Return Of The Faint Smile
by demon6666
Summary: The organisation has found a way to revive Teresa, their strongest warrior to once again rebuild their army of claymores. However Teresa has no intentions on returning to the organisation, instead she is devoted to finding Clare.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: Hey everyone I hope that you will enjoy my fic. This is actually my first fic so please don't be too harsh!. I was actually inspired by KunoichiTemari's 'Blood Red Tears'which is I enjoyed but is sadly unfinished. So I decided to write my own fic starring Teresa and Clare.

Please read and review!

Enjoy.

* * *

_**IMPORTANT NOTE:**_

This story begins where chapter 82 left off, when the ghosts left Rabona to fulfill their own personal missions.

* * *

The land was engulfed by the blackness of the night as Clare, Uma and Cynthia slipped unnoticed into the city of Rabona through the secret southern side entrance. It has been a few weeks since the ghosts split up to fulfill their own personal missions away from Rabona, and they weren't sure whether the others have returned yet. Nevertheless, it was time for them to begin their rebellion against the organization.

Despite her best efforts, Clare failed to find Raki. She searched in every town and city imaginable in all the great lands but to no avail. Clare would often just gaze upon the moon wondering if Raki was doing the same.

She kept on reminding herself that she would find him, but there was something deep down within the core of her being that told her she would never, that it was a silly obsession she had, that the promise she made to him was a lie.

As she would continue staring at the moon, she rejected such logic from her mind. She was not one to break a promise. She learned that from Teresa and she was devoted to keeping her promises.

All of her being demanded her to abandon the hopeless search for him, but in her heart, she knew he was still alive, and there was no one who could tell her otherwise.

"Welcome back" a familiar voice said as the three entered the Church's main gates.

"Hi Miria" everyone except Clare replied.

Miria looked over at the shorthaired warrior who had her head down with a miserable look on her face. Clare seemed even more depressed than her usual self and this was concerning for the captain. Miria looked around the three for a sign of a young man but sadly she saw none.

"Are the others back yet Miria?" Uma asked the captain.

"Yes, in fact everybody has retuned yesterday, we have been awaiting your arrival…" she paused for a short moment as she continued: "were there any complications during the journey?" Miria asked with a worried look.

"Surprisingly none whatsoever Miria" Cynthia replied. Miria had a surprised but relieved look on her face as heard those words.

"The other groups weren't so lucky" she replied "Come on in, everyone's waiting for you"

The four ghosts made their way to the side of the great Church, and opened a secret wooden door hidden behind some thick bushes. Under the cover of night, they entered the small room inside and walked up a spiral staircase into their base of operations. As Miria opened the door at the end of the staircase and entered the room, the rest of the ghosts immediately stopped their conversations to greet their comrades.

"Hey everyone" Cynthia said as she collapsed on the nearest chair, clearly exhausted from the trip.

"Well if it isn't Clare… How ya been? Where's the Brat?" Helen asked as she left the table she sat against to approach Clare.

There was a short moment of silence as Helen scanned the door for Raki, but like Miria, she couldn't find any sign of him.

"Helen just be quiet" Deneve urged from the table as she made a face palm.

"I'm so sorry Clare" remarked Tabitha, who sat on an opposite table with a worried look on her face.

Clare took a short sigh as she walked towards the corridor past the others, making her way to the common room.

Clare, Uma and Cynthia have been away for many weeks like the others. But their journey involved constant travelling from town to town, which usually involved very little or nothing to eat. Clare was sorry for having pushed Uma and Cynthia so hard, taking as little breaks as possible until she found Raki. It infuriated her that all she managed to achieve in these past few weeks was to tire herself, and her team out with her selfish desires.

"Raki I will find you" she swore under her breath clenching her fists tightly as she stormed towards the common room.

* * *

The next morning Clare woke earlier than usual. She couldn't sleep well over the past few nights since she left in search for Raki. In truth, she never sleeps well, but especially so these past few weeks.

She made her way to the top of the church, taking a secret staircase. She would often just stand there and think to herself as she gazed upon the vast city and the green lands beyond. She enjoyed the cool breeze and peacefulness that always made her feel slightly better, if only for a short time. She closed her eyes and took in the serenity of the environment around her.

Clare heard someone approach her, and immediately identified Miria's distinct footsteps. The kind of footsteps that a leader would have, the kind that indicated a strong arched back and gracefulness in them. No body else had a walk like that in their group.

"Clare I'm concerned for you" she spoke softly

Without any sign of emotion, Clare replied. "There's no need to worry about me Miria"

"But I think there is Clare"

Clare turned to face Miria who showed a hint of sadness in her face.

"Clare I believe that you will find the boy you seek"

"Is that all you came to say?" Clare brushed off coldly, turning her face off to the distance one again.

Miria pondered her words for a moment as she came closer to Clare. She stood next to her facing the same direction.

"Clare it is my job to keep the morale of our group as high as possible, and even if one member is slightly weak in that respect it can effect the entire groups performance"

"Leave me alone"

"Clare… I know how much that boy must means to you, and I completely understand if you don't want to do this anymore."

Clare turned to face her captain rather surprised: "What do you mean Miria?"

Miria stared right into her eyes. "If you want to leave us and go find him… I would understand."

Clare gave a soft smile as she crossed her arms.

"Just keep this between you and me Miria, I know that he's alive."

"How do you know?"

"I found a sign he left for me at his old hometown, and it was written only a few weeks ago."

* * *

Teresa opened her heavy eyes only to see more darkness. She jumped up and hysterically looked around searching for Priscilla. But only saw more darkness.

"Clare? WHERE ARE YOU CLARE?" she frantically yelled, desperately looking for signs of her.

"It appears to be a success" a dark suited man said to another as they watched their experiment animate right in front of their eyes on a platform high above.

"Jeves you have done it, you have resurrected Teresa of the faint smile" he spoke with a huge evil grin on his face. "Dae Sama will be very pleased with our success…should I go inform him of this now?"

"No!" Jeves said harshly as he stared at the magnificent specimen below him. "We will report to Dae sama once there is something to report"

"But Jeves?" the other asked him with a confused look on his face.

"But nothing" Jeves replied harshly "We must begin tests and training to ensure this one is in working order"

Jeves let out an evil grin as he watched the wavy haired warrior from high above.

"Are you sure Jeves that she cannot escape?"

"Oh I'm sure… very sure..." Jeves said coldly with harsh bitterness.

"But this one has memories…and…"

"BUT NOTHING! How many times must I remind you that we must begin tests! "

During their conversation, Teresa began to panic from being isolated and confused and started to punch the walls with all her might, while still yelling Clare's name.

"Poor girl she doesn't even know where she is"

"Yes she still thinks she is at that exact moment of her death" said Jeves.

"Should I call Audrey to calm her down?"

"I believe that would be the appropriate course of action… we don't want her to damage her magnificent self now do we?" Jeves replied

With a nod, the man in the black suit left the room.

"Lets just see if she's still her old self" Jeves said to himself with a wicked smile on his face.

"CLARE! WHERE ARE YOU CLARE! PRISCILLA WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"

Suddenly, Teresa heard the sound of a large stone door open in front of her, making a crushing noise as the bottom of the heavy door grinded against the rocky floor.

"WHO'S THERE?"

As hard as Teresa tried, she couldn't see anything through the thick darkness. She could always see very well in the dark but for some reason she couldn't see anything. For the first time in a long time she felt frightened, not for herself but for Clare.

Suddenly, powerful lights illuminated the area around Teresa to reveal a small room with no roof and the bed she must have woke up in mounted against a wall. She could see an unknown claymore with long loose hair enter the room, with a soft smile on her lips.

"I don't know who you are but if you want to keep your life your going to tell me what's going on and the whereabouts of Clare!"

The figure didn't say anything but approached Teresa without a moment's hesitation.

"My name is Audrey and I am the number three in the organization."

"What are you talking about?" Teresa concurred with a confused look.

"It is an honor to meet you former number one, I've heard a lot of stories about you"

Teresa was dumbfounded by what this strange warrior had just said.

_What did she mean heard about? _

_And how can she be ranked three when Irene is?_

"I'm sorry but I have been given orders to make sure that you don't hurt yourself and to keep you in check"

Teresa gave her famous faint smile and replied confidently.

"I'll tell you what? You do what I say and I won't kill you"?

Audrey started walking closer to her unarmed.

_Has she lost her mind?_ Teresa asked herself as she reached for her claymore from her back holster, but her trusty weapon wasn't there.

"Missing something?" Audrey smiled.

"Hmm not like I need it"

Audrey quickly grabbed Teresa by the head and slammed her face towards the stone wall with enormous force. As hard as Teresa tried, she couldn't overpower Audrey.

Holding her face there Audrey continued. "Listen to me Teresa of the faint smile, I have nothing against you but I have been told to tell you this."

Teresa was Furious and astounded by the fact that this claymore managed to overpower her completely. She was not used to this kind of treatment. Wherever she used to go nobody even dared to get on her bad side, and this woman treated her like she was her pet? At this point she had no choice but to submit to Audrey and listen to her words.

"You have been dead for over ten years, Priscilla sliced your head off"

The sound of those words immediately calmed Teresa down. She stopped trying to get out of Audrey's firm grip and processed those words.

_What was this woman saying? Was this really true?_

"You have been resurrected by the organization to fight for us once again"

A moment of silence passed as Audrey released her grip on Teresa's head. Teresa collapsed to her knees by the pain and shock and looked into Audrey's eyes.

Audrey continued "right now you are weaker than our current number forty seven, so you are in no condition to resist me. You will do what I say when I say it"

Teresa was lost for words. Her very being told her to laugh at such a statement, but after seeing how inferior she actually was, she probably shouldn't resist if she doesn't want to get hurt again.

"Any questions?" Audrey asked

Teresa wanted to ask her about Clare's whereabouts, but then she remembered that this was some unknown future, Audrey wouldn't know anything about it and the organization never even know about Clare. She thought hard about her next question, realizing it's important to pretend that Clare didn't exist if she ever wanted to see her again. Summoning all her mental strength and throwing away her self-respect Teresa spoke the words:

"A moment ago you mentioned that I am weaker that the current number 47, can you tell me why?"

Even though Audrey was putting up a brave face, behind that brave face was fear. She knew very well what Teresa of the faint smile was capable of when her strength returns. She used to read about all the former number ones but Teresa was always the most interesting, and the most powerful number one the organization has ever had. Gazing upon the warrior who will most likely kill her when her strength returned, she masked her fear and said:

"Your body has been freshly reanimated, taken out from a deep freeze state. Most of your yoma cells are still dormant however, which is why you are so weak. Once they begin to work properly you will be your old…. Self again."

Teresa was slowly coming to terms with her situation as she began to calm down. She slowly stood up and looked at her hands, then held them in a tight fist.

"What happened to Priscilla?" She asked with a hint of anger in her voice.

Audrey didn't know whether to answer the question or not. The last thing she wanted to do was give Teresa the wrong answer and piss her off. She figured that telling the truth was probably the best idea.

"We know that she is alive, but we do not know where she is or what is her current situation"

Teresa hoped with all her heart that Clare was still alive. If she found out that Priscilla even dared to touch her Clare, then she would make her eat her own guts alive.

"I am ready to work for the organization again"

"Excellent to hear" Audrey remarked with a smile on her face.

_Well she took it better than I thought she would…_ Audrey thought to herself.

* * *

If you love the Claymore anime then vote for season 2!

There is a Japanese petition happening, where they require 10 000 signatures or something. It's in Japanese so you guys probably wont understand, so I'll include a step by step guide to vote.

please click on my profile for more information.


	2. Chapter 2

Outside the walls of Rabona, in their secret training area in a valley covered by two large hills, the ghosts are discussing future plans and practicing their sword skills against each other under the instruction of Miria.

"You sure have gotten sloppy Deneve!" remarked Helen

"Shut up, your not much better"

"Better than you" she laughed.

The two were battling each other for hours. Miria was keeping a close eye on them and told herself that she would intervene if they use too much of their youki. Miria told all of them that releasing too much at once could alert their presence to the organizations warriors, which was the last thing they needed.

The rest of the ghosts were standing underneath a large tree watching the fight before them. The area that they had was perfect as a training ground. Not only did it give them a chance to go outside the city, but it acted like a safe heaven for them, just like the safe heaven for them available in the north.

Mira and Clare were standing near each other, leaning against the same tree, Miata and Clarice were muttering something to each other while Cynthia and Tabitha just rested.

"Miria, their youki levels are rising above recommended levels" Galatea remarked as she came from behind the tree.

Miria was aware of this already of course, but even she didn't feel like putting herself in between the two of them. This was especially true in the case of Helen.

"I'll allow them to fight on a bit longer, keep monitoring their youki levels"

Galatea gave a slight nod, indicating that she understood the command, and proceeded to sit down next to Miria, leaning against the old tree.

Miria glanced at Clare who was just staring into the sky. She noticed for a few hours that Clare hasn't been doing any training, while the others have worked themselves rather hard.

"Clare we should practice too"

With a slight smirk Clare replied " Do you really want to get beaten again Miria?"

Miria let of a slight smile and added, "As far as I remember that fight was a tie"

She drew her sword and pelted it in the ground.

"You are the only one who's actually a challenge to me Clare, and I the same for you"

"So be it" grinned Clare.

* * *

Outside the Organization's headquarters, in the training facility for the trainee warriors, Teresa and Audrey walked through a small crowd of trainees as they approached their destination. Audrey was given specific orders from Jeves to keep Teresa in her sight and make sure she is physically fit.

Teresa scanned the new faces as they walked passed them, they all seemed strange and she wasn't used to the fact that they had no idea who she was. If she would have done this during her time, the others would not dare get in her way but these ones were rude and some even made crude comments.

"These are our future warriors as you probably figured out by now" explained Audrey

Teresa knew this place very well, she remembered being a trainee herself and constantly hating this place. She would often hide and run away from her trainers due to the fact that it was such a hellhole. The facility was located on the shore of the eastern lands and had little to no security. There weren't even walls from stopping recruits from running away.

"What do you want me to do?" Teresa asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Audrey looked all around her for a sign of any organization member and when she saw no sign of any, she grabbed Teresa by the hand and led her outside the training facility and stood next to a small tree.

"Please don't kill me Teresa!"

A surprised look appeared on Teresa's face as she saw the woman kneel down in front of her, leaning her head on Teresa's hand as she held it tightly.

"What are you talking about?"

Audrey looked up at Teresa, and got to her feet. "In a matter of hours you will be your old self again and I beg you to please not kill me"

"Why not?"

"You must understand that what I did in there, the way I treated and talked to you was only because I was being watched. They ordered me to do it!"

A brief silence passed as Teresa brushed her hand across Audrey's cheek.

"Whatever, I also have something to tell you" Teresa Remarked.

Audrey's face was full of fear as she heard those words and braced herself for anything Teresa might say.

"I have no intentions on returning to the organization"

Audrey breathed a sign of relief as she heard those words. But at the same time she was concerned, knowing that she would get in trouble if Teresa goes rogue again.

"There is something else."

"What is it?" Audrey feared.

"I need you to help me with something. I need some information"

Suddenly a man in black appeared from behind a bush. As Audrey saw him her heart sank as she realized she must have been found out.

Grinning the man saluted "long time no see Teresa I can help you with that"

Teresa gazed upon this man but did not recognize him.

He continued, "you don't know who I am, but I know very well who you are, and I know information you are dying to hear"

Audrey recognized the man as Rubel, trying to understand what he meant by _I can help you with that._

"What do you mean?" Teresa asked.

"My name is Rubel and you can regard me as an old friend of someone you knew"

"What are you talking about?" Teresa demanded

"Hey is that how you treat a friend of a friend?" Rubel sneered.

"Explain yourself now!"

Tilting his head and grabbing his hat, Rubel continued, "I know about the current situation of a certain somebody"

Teresa's heart was jumping for joy as she hoped the person who he was talking about was Clare. She walked towards him and asked:

"You're talking about Cla…"

Before she could finish Rubel interrupted "exactly"

"You're lying"

"She a beautiful young warrior now"

Teresa with a hint of confusion snapped, "What are you talking about?"

Once again Rubel let out a cold smile and continued

"Let me explain this to you Teresa"

Teresa could not keep her eyes of Rubel, she was ready to hear whatever he was going to say, whether it was bad or good news she just wanted to know the whereabouts of Clare.

"Clare came to me with your head after Priscilla removed it from your neck, demanding to be a warrior of the organization… until she deserted us"

Rubel could see Teresa was entranced by his words as he continued.

"She is now a rebel with six others hiding in some unknown location"

After a short silence Teresa replied "and why should I believe you?"

"Because this is the only way for you to meet that girl again, and besides me and Clare go way back"

At the sound of this Teresa leapt towards Rubel, grabbed his clothes and rammed him against the tree.

"How dare you touch my Clare with those filthy hands!"

Smiling Rubel objected "I was like a father to her"

"Liar!"

"Whether you believe me or not, the truth remains that she is alive"

Teresa released her grip on Rubel, looking at the stunned Audrey who seemed to be backing off as the conversation progressed.

"why are you telling me this, what possible reason do you have?"

Smiling, he replied "Lets just say I'm not intent on you being on the organizations side"

Teresa did not understand his intention, but at this point she really didn't care, because she got the information she wanted.

"As soon as I get stronger I am leaving this place"

"Excellent" Rubel smirked

suddenly Audrey interrupted "No Teresa, if you leave, they will have your head, and mine"

"I would love to see them try"

Audrey looked at her with a troublesome look in her eyes then stared at Rubel.

"you're a traitor?"

walking towards the tree and facing his back to Audrey he replied.

"so will you in a matter of hours when you run away"

* * *

Miria Phantomed behind Clare as Clare dodged the incoming blow on her back. She swung her sword to strike Miria but once again she phantomed out of the way.

"isn't that your thousandth time doing that?" Clare questioned.

"probably" a voice in the winds replied around her as Miria appeared above Clare preparing for a strike. Clare removed all youki flowing through her body and focused on Miria's. manipulating hers enough to make her blade miss Clare's shoulder by mere millimeters and hitting the ground with such force it seemed stuck.

Immediately Clare grabbed Miria by the head and pushed her away from her sword. As Miria was about to land on the ground her body suddenly ghosted out of sight.

Clare closed her eyes and felt all the youki around her. She could feel the youki of everyone around her, they were all faint, but they were still there. She focused on Miria's distinct frequency as she foresaw her next attack. Clare lifted her leg behind her in an attempt to kick Miria as she appeared from behind, but was a bit off and Miria kicked her in the face instead.

They both fell roughly on the ground as Clare dropped her Claymore from the impact. Clare was lying face down as Miria jumped on top of her and held her head down with her right hand, while using her weight to restrain her on the ground.

"Its no use Clare you cannot escape this lock"

Clare began to release her youki as rage flowed through every vein in her body. Her eyes changed to a distinct yellow and her body began to distort when suddenly Miria let go of her and got to her feet. As she did this Clare immediately began to calm down and rose to her feet alongside Miria.

Meanwhile back at the tree, the rest of the Ghosts watched the intense fight as it finally concluded.

"awe I was sure Clare was going to win!" Helen cried

"No Miria is still a bit stronger" Tabitha remarked

"of course you would say that!" teased Helen.

"what are you saying?"

"Oh common, as if we all don't know. I bet you wished you were the one being held down by Miria like that!"

"No way, take that back" Tabitha objected blushing slightly

"Helen please be quiet" snapped Deneve

"hey just cause you lost to me Deneve, you don't have to be a sore loser"

"as I told you many times Helen, I was bored of the fight since neither of us were going to win any time soon"

"so you gave up?"

"no I only got bored"

"which means you gave up?"

Deneve looked away and finished "Helen think whatever you want"

Miata and Clarice gave a slight chuckle at the sight of them arguing.

* * *

"Clare you seemed distracted during the fight, what's the matter?" Miria questioned.

Thinking for a while, Clare replied "I'm not sure, I feel as if my body is trying to tell me something"

"what do you mean?" Miria replied with a confused look.

"I don't know exactly how to explain it, but it's as if the cells in my body have been given new life, if that makes sense."

Miria walked towards Clare's claymore and threw it to her, while pulling hers out of the ground and placing it back on its holster on her back.

"what happened Clare, why did you release your Youki like that?"

Clare seemed to ignore her as she too placed her claymore on her back.

"you need to learn self control, Clare, if there was a warrior of the organization near us they would have found us by now,"

"I'm sorry Miria, I don't know what I was thinking"

* * *

"Mama did Miria win?" Miata asked Clarice as they both lay against the tree.

"It looks like Miria won Miata, yes"

"just how strong is this little brat anyways?" remarked Helen as she walked towards Miata and Clarice.

"hey she has a name you know, and its Miata" objected Clarice.

Galatea with a smirk on her face noted "Helen, if you fought Miata you would most likely not live to see another day"

Helen had an annoyed look on her face as she turned to face Galatea

"Oh common how tough can she be?"

"She was the former number 4" lectured Galatea.

"Former number 4 huh?, so young"

Miata seemed to completely ignore Helen as she dozed off on Clarice.

"You shouldn't wake her, she has been fighting Galatea all day" claimed Clarice.

The rest of the ghosts looked at Galatea and noticed all scratches and tears on her clothing.

"that little girl really knows how to fight" remarked Galatea.


	3. Chapter 3

_Her technique is perfect, its almost as if she's fighting me in slow motion._ Thought Audrey as she battled Teresa on the training grounds. _I'm beginning to understand why she was considered the strongest claymore, this Teresa of the faint Smile… it's almost as if her destiny was with her blade_ _from birth._

"Teresa may I ask you something" Audrey questioned as she parried one of Teresa's blows.

"Go ahead" she replied as she spun around aiming for Audrey's legs.

Dodging the attack Audrey continued, "Why did they call you Teresa of the faint smile, not to sound rude or anything, but you haven't been smiling for a while"

As Audrey finished, Teresa stopped her blows and looked towards the distance as a gust of wind raced through her hair. Closing her eyes she answered, "during my time, I had no competition, I was the strongest and I feared nothing, loved nothing and cared for nothing."

Audrey sheathed her sword as she continued listening to Teresa's words, who now opened her eyes and turned to face her.

"But today was the first time in a long time I experienced fear… seeing the blade that was about to slice my head off and knowing that I could do nothing to stop it, combined with suddenly waking up in a strange dark room and getting my head plowed against a wall…filled my mind with fear and doubt."

She turned around and Audrey swore she noticed a slight tear in her eye.

"The moment I died and the moment I woke up here seemed instantaneous to me. For the first time in my life I felt weak. First with Priscilla, then you slamming my head against the wall… I was beaten today twice…"

Audrey was stunned by what she had heard, and felt sorry for Teresa. _It must have been horrible to get beaten twice within the timeframe of about a minute_. She thought as the only sound heard was the ghostly howl of the wind as it raced past them.

Teresa suddenly turned around and stammered "Ah why am I even telling you this...I've really gone soft"

Teresa slammed her sword in the ground in an attempt to get it stuck in the soil but failed. The sword just fell with a loud 'thud' kicking dust in the air.

"My body is still quite weak and all this training has made me tired, I can barely hold my sword anymore" she added.

"You mean this entire time fighting me, you barely had the strength to hold your claymore?" Audrey snapped.

With a slight smile Teresa continued, "you're a pretty good fighter yourself, but your blocks are flawed."

"What do you mean?" Audrey asked with a hint of confusion.

"As you probably figured out, my attacks were targeting the weakest areas, that is, the areas most difficult to direct your claymore to. If I had my strength, I could have easily killed you without a moments hesitation" Teresa said coldly.

"So you're the famous Teresa of the faint smile," boasted a figure behind Teresa.

Teresa turned around to see three unknown warriors of the organization with evil smirks on their faces. The first warrior had short spiky hair and had a tomboy look on her face, she was most likely the leader. The second one had slightly longer hair that was completely straight, and the third had hair similar to Irene, if not slightly shorter. All three had mocking smiles on their faces.

Teresa let out a light sigh as she replied sounding uninterested.

"What do you want?"

"We came to test out the famous Teresa, the one from Legend."

"The one who had her head chopped off" smirked the one with long hair on her right.

The three let out a laugh as Teresa closed her eyes and tilted her head down towards the ground.

"You don't want to get on my bad side" noted Teresa.

"Oh really" the third one said mockingly "why not?"

"You guys shouldn't be here, this is for trainees only" stated Audrey.

"Same can be said for little miss faint smile here" snorted the first warrior.

The three began walking towards Teresa threatening to fight her. Teresa just stood there, looking as calm as a statue, un phased by the sight of the three warriors. Audrey didn't know if she should protect Teresa or let her fight them. She knew that Teresa, in her current state couldn't possibly defeat these three.

The first warrior threw a punch, directing it on Teresa's face, but Teresa was quicker. She gracefully dodged the blow, and paced herself a few meters away from her attacker.

_Teresa still has her perfect fighting technique and instincts, but without her strength, the best she can do is just keep dodging,_ thought Audrey as she watched.

"So your fast" the first warrior roared as she ran towards Teresa throwing a few more punches. Teresa once again easily dodged them, jumped on the warrior's shoulders and kicked herself off, landing a few meters away.

"You bitch!" the warrior yelled as she charged towards her. Teresa knew that one of the others was behind her and she dodged her attack as well, and jumped out of the way of the first warrior causing her to collide with her comrade.

A loud thud could be heard as the two warriors collided, landing on top of each other.

"If you want to do that sort of thing I suggest you get a room" mocked Teresa, giving off her trademark faint smile.

"YOUR DEAD!" the first warrior yelled as she got up with her friend. The third warrior joined in, as all three began encircling Teresa.

"Let see if she can dodge all three of us at once" the second warrior mocked.

The three of them charged like bulls holding out their hands preparing to grab Teresa. She dodged one of them but realizing she couldn't dodge the rest, she slammed her foot into the 1st warriors gut but to no effect. It was too weak.

The second and third warriors held Teresa on each side while the first slapped her in her face. "You bitch your going to pay for what you said" she yelled as she slammed her fist into Teresa's gut. Teresa felt a mountain for pain fall over her as she tried to fall to her knees, but was unable to as the others were holding her up.

"Number one my ass" she continued as she delivered another blow. Teresa took the hit without making a sound and once again felt the incredible pain race through her body. Her eyes widened and she could feel her body starting to shake.

At the sight of this Audrey leapt towards the first warrior drawing her sword and with amazing speed, as she sliced off both her arms. The warrior screamed in pain as she fell to the ground with blood gushing out of her wounds. Audrey gazed upon the other two who immediately let go of the exhausted Teresa and started to back off.

"I suggest you grab your friends arms and help her re-attach them. She will die of blood loss soon".

Without hesitation, the other two picked up their fallen comrade and her fallen limbs and ran as fast as they could away from Audrey, drawing a line of blood as they made their way.

Audrey saw Teresa struggling to pick herself off the ground, as she approached to offer her a hand. But Teresa coldly brushed her hand away and slowly got up herself, shaking like a child after a cold bath.

"Teresa…" Audrey said with a hint of guilt. "I'm …"

But Teresa ignored her and began to walk off into the distance away from the training ground walking like a wounded animal. Gone was that graceful proud walk Audrey first noticed on her as she watched her go off into the distance.

_Teresa… I'm sorry…. I should have acted sooner…. That's three isn't it? This is the third time you were beaten in such a short amount of time. I truly am sorry._

"Hey Clare are you sure you're alright? Repeated Miria as she approached her.

Clare was once again leaning against the tree with her arms folded staring off into the sky.

"Clare I've known you for seven years, I know when something is bothering you"

As Clare turned to face her, Miria noticed that her usual calm face has disappeared and replaced with a face of confusion and fear.

"I don't know how to explain this" she added.

"Try me"

Clare let out a big sigh, and proceeded to sit down against the tree with her arms hanging off her knees.

"I don't know why, but I feel an overwhelming feeling of defeat, like the entire world is against me, that I cant do anything right"

Miria didn't know how to respond to those words. Clearly she could see something was bothering her. She noticed this the exact moment Clare tried to kick her in the face during the fight. She could sense Clare's loss of concentration and see the confusion in her eyes. Clare was not one to lose concentration like that during a fight.

"Clare has this got to do with your sudden release in Yoki?"

Clare thought deep for a moment. She hadn't thought of that. When Miria held her down on the ground, she suddenly lost control and was filled with anger and fear. This was strange as she never does this. She was in similar situations within the seven years in the North, but she never lost control like that.

"I think there might be a connection" Clare added.

"Clare I think we should all relax, take a short break from this training. I have been working us much too hard lately. We all need this, especially you."

"I'm fine"

Miria quickly commanded, "Clare, as your Captain and your friend I'm telling you, you need this. I haven't seen you like this before."

Clare closed her eyes as she listened to Miria's words. As much as she didn't want to admit it, Miria was right. She had been working far too hard, and this sudden strange feeling she was experiencing isn't helping. In fact, deep down she was hoping Miria was going to say something like this.

"Alright"

Miria let out a sigh of relief as she concentrated on her youki and began releasing it in intervals making sure the signal was strong enough for her comrades to hear them, but too faint for anyone over two kilometers to pick up.

A short while later all the Ghosts assembled under their meeting tree as Helen liked to call it. They all stood around Miria, tired from their training and from the look on their faces, it seemed they were expecting something unpleasant from Miria, something that would involve more hard work.

"Oh common Miria, not another lap around the hills, common my legs are going to fall off" Helen muttered with frustration.

"If they fall off you can just reattach them" uttered Deneve, with a look of satisfaction on her face.

"Hey shut up Deneve, that's easy for you to say" scolded Helen to Deneve, who didn't seem to respond the slightest to her words.

"Just be quiet and let Miria talk" announced Cynthia.

"Oh common, you can't tell me you want to do another lap?"

"Well… no I don't but…" Cynthia responded, who seemed to have lost all her confidence from before.

"What about you Tabith…oh what am I thinking, of course you'll do anything Miria asks."

"Hey shut up Helen!" Tabitha babbled

"Helen, I swear if you don't shut it…"warned Deneve

"You'll what? Loose to me again?"

"For the millionth time I only stepped down because none of us were going to win any time soon, and for the record I would have eventually won anyway."

"Oh yeah prove it?" Helen hissed.

Deneve looked at Galatea who was standing next to her as quiet as a mouse. When all attention was on her, she spoke the words: "Helen you would have lost"

"Whaaa?"

"You were using more youki than Deneve, even though it wasn't much, it was considerably more than what Deneve was using."

Helen stood there, arms crossed and head tilted down. She knew Galatea was right, and not even she would dare to go against what Galatea said… unless it was something that demanded a joke, something that Helen could work with, but Galatea never gave her such a chance.

"By the way, Galatea, how did you do against Miata?" Mentioned Deneve

Galatea gave a light smile as she pointed her face to Miata, feeling her distinct faint youki as she lay against Clarice.

"In terms of experience I hold the edge. However because she's so young, she can go at it for hours and not get tired. If she was ten years older, I wouldn't even last a minute."

Everyone turned to face Miata as she lay against Clarice. Clarice had a proud look on her face as she stroked Miata's hair.

Breaking the silence Miria instructed:"I know that everyone here has worked very hard, that is why I believe it is important for us to have a break"

"What do you have in mind Miria?" asked Cynthia.

Everyone now turned to face Miria, except Clare who seemed too distracted by her own thoughts. Miria continued: "I think it's time we have a bath at the hot springs"

"YEAH!" celebrated Helen as she threw a fist in the air, "alright a bath! How long has it been?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea Miria, there's a risk we'll be seen by the organizations warriors." Objected Deneve.

"I have weighed out the benefits against the dangers and I believe that this is something we all need. Our morale is slipping and I can feel it. Even we need leisure time"

Helen was jumping for joy, Deneve let out a small smile, Clarice seemed excited, Tabitha blushed, Cynthia celebrated with Helen and Galatea let out a slight grin. Miria turned to face Clare who barely seemed to react at all.

"Come on Clare, we all need this"

Clare closed her eyes and stood up to face her captain. Miria's announcement seemed to cheer Clare up a little as she noticed a slight smile on her face.

stay tuned! I'll bring the next chapter up within 1-2 days!


	4. Chapter 4

_I wonder if I should go and talk to her… no I probably shouldn't, she seems pretty upset, or maybe she needs someone to talk to? No, doubt it, the way she rejected my help before clearly means that she wants to be alone… Teresa why do you have to be so complicated?_

"Audrey" a male voice hissed from behind her.

Audrey turned around to see none other than Jeves standing there with that usual smirk on his face. His face was covered in scars and wrinkles, like that of a war veteran, but this man was anything but a war veteran, he was a freak and he loved the suffering of others. Jeves was in charge of the organizations 'experiments'. They say that he was responsible with the creation of the claymores, and it was his idea to attempt to control Luciela's awakening, he was one of the highest ranked members of the organization, second only to Dae sama.

"What would you have me do?" Audrey asked, sounding unhappy to see him.

"Where is my beloved experiment?" he hissed, waving his ugly face around trying to find her.

"She needs some time alone"

"Time alone? How dare you let her out of your sight!"

"I'm sorry Jeves, it won't happen again"

Jeves had a look of satisfaction on his face, as if he believed Audrey's words. He was the kind of man who loved to be in control of everyone and everything. It's just too bad Dae Sama controlled him.

"Go and get the subject and bring her back to the lab. It's already been one hour, and her strength should be returning. I don't want to risk her escaping. We should lock her up now while we can"

Audrey didn't know what to think of this. Deep down she knew that something like this would happen. After all what was she expecting? She seriously didn't think that the organization was planning her to stop Teresa from escaping once she gains her strength.

_This is a smart move by Jeves, letting her out while she has no hope of escape, and then locking her up when she would have the chance._

"What are you planning to do to her?" Audrey asked, with a hint of sadness.

"That's none of your business, know your place" he sneered coldly as he turned around and began to walk back to his underground lab on the other side of the training grounds.

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Teresa walked a few kilometers south of the training ground as she collapsed next to a small river. The area was much greener than the dried up soil on the training ground, which was probably due to the constant yoki release by the warriors that plagued the soil, making it infertile. As she lay next to the river, she heard the soothing sound of the water gently splashing against pebbles and a lone bird chirping a soothing song on a nearby three.

She placed her hands in the rather cold water which soothed her burning and bruised hands and just lay on there closing her eyes.

_Clare I hope you will never see me like this…I swear that I will be stronger for you, and I swear that I will find you. Wait for me my darling Clare._

Audrey watched Teresa from a nearby cliff with her hands folded leaning against a tree. She was seriously thinking abandoning the organization, because she knew that if she wouldn't help Teresa, then she would be the first one she killed.

Audrey let out a slight sigh. _What should I do? I don't want to hand her over in such a condition. Especially not to someone like Jeves. Knowing him, he'll probably experiment on her and put tubes all over her body while he has that evil look of satisfaction on his face._

Audrey jumped of the cliff landing on the ground and making a loud thud with her boots. _Perhaps I can pretend that it took me a while to find her? No that's too obvious… or perhaps I can pretend that she already regained her strength and I was taken hostage? That might work._ She thought to herself.

Audrey started walking towards Teresa when she noticed another warriors Yoki off to the distance. No… it was the Yoki of two other warriors approaching. _This cannot be good. This can only mean that Jeves doesn't trust me, which helps makes running away with Teresa looking like a better idea._

Audrey ran towards Teresa who remained motionless on the grass, looking like a dead animal. Audrey knew that she wasn't dead, she was just exhausted, and as much as she didn't want to wake her, she knew that she must.

"Teresa, get up there are two warriors approaching"

Teresa opened her eyes and turned to face Audrey.

"Looks like they don't trust you anymore" she uttered, sounding as exhausted as ever.

"Teresa I've come to escape with you now hurry up before they arrive"

"I don't need your help, I can take them on my own" she replied hopelessly.

"Teresa…"

_Dam too late, they're here._

Suddenly the two warriors appeared in front of Audrey facing Teresa. Audrey immediately recognized Rachel, number five in the organization and another unknown claymore, most probably one of the lower ranks.

"Yo Audrey what's the deal? Cant you keep her in line?" questioned Rachel

"Rachel…. Umm she's really sensitive now and I don't think this is a good ide…."

"Hah come on this is the famous Teresa, she can handle a little rough treatment"

Teresa just lay on the ground not moving an inch, with the wind blowing her wavy hair off to the side.

"Rachel can we talk for a moment?" questioned Audrey

"Oh what about?"

Audrey hinted Rachel to follow her, as they distanced themselves away from Teresa and the other warrior.

"Rachel I don't think this is a good idea, we should just leave her here"

"You can't be serious? Leave her here? Your much to soft Audrey, you always have been"

Audrey turned her face to Teresa, who continued lying there seemingly unconscious eyeing the other claymore who seemed to be inspecting Teresa closely.

"Well it's just…." Audrey continued

"Audrey… I'm under direct orders from a superior…" Rachel added

"It's Jeves isn't it? He told you not to tell me it was him so I wouldn't know he doesn't trust me"

Rachel let out a slight sigh and crossed her arms. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it a moment later, as if she was unsure of what to say. She stared into Audrey's eyes as she continued, "Look Audrey, I'll tell you this because your my friend…. Yes it was Jeves, but keep this between you and me"

"He told you to keep an eye on me too?"

Rachel once again didn't know what to say. She tried to mask her frustration by facing off to the side and tilting her head down, but Audrey knew her friend too well, and knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Audrey you always have a way to find the truth" She grunted.

A moment of silence passed as Rachel made her way towards Teresa, kicking the grass with her heavy boots as she went along.

_Rachel please don't… please just leave her here, for my sake and hers… I beg you…_

Rachel knelt down next to Teresa and began inspecting her. She didn't think that Teresa looked all that impressive, she seemed like an ordinary warrior, she didn't see a monster as described in the history book and fables, but sometimes looks can be deceiving.

"Why do you care so much about her Audrey?"

Audrey didn't say anything as she heard those words. Rachel didn't even turn to face her as she was waiting for her friend's response.

"I don't know" she replied softly, sounding unconfident.

Shaking her head and placing her arms underneath Teresa, she lifted her up and faced Audrey.

_No… I don't want to attack my friend…. What should I do?_ …. Is Teresa worth saving? Should I draw my blade at Rachel? _Or just let her take her?_

Rachel could see her friend's anger and frustration. She saw Audrey's face change immediately when she lifted Teresa. She saw Audrey clenching her fists and moving her hand towards her holster on her back to draw her blade and attack her. _Audrey what happened to you?_ She thought to herself.

"If you want to strike me down with your claymore then do it now" demanded Rachel, "but personally, I don't think our friendship is worth sacrificing for the sake of this person you barely even know… how do you know she wont strike you down the moment she has the chance?"

Rachel scanned the face of her friend and realized what she had said hit home. She thought she had finally convinced Audrey that what she was doing was stupid and foolish. Audrey just bobbed her head down and closed her eyes, letting go of the tension in her fists. She immediately lowered her right arm that was slowly making its way to her back to grab her claymore.

_Dam you Jeves, you brought the one person you knew I wouldn't attack to get Teresa… This is getting dangerous…_

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"Hurry up! Double the pace! My subject simply must be taken to headquarters as soon as possible!" hissed Dae Sama as he sat on his royal looking chair being held up by two of the organizations warriors without a hint of emotion on their faces.

In front of Dae Sama was the subject inside a steel cage, also being held up by the organizations warriors. The subject had been given yoki suppressants a while earlier to help slow down the spread of the infection.

"Dae sama" one of his servants called out

Dae Sama turned to his right and looked down from his chair to see one of his servants as he struggled to keep up with the pace of the claymores carrying him.

"What is it?" he snapped coldly

"It's been two hours since we gave the subject a suppressant pill, an infection of this magnitude will exhaust the potential of one pill, I think we should give him another one"

"No, leave him"

"But Dae Sama what if he…."

"But nothing, know your place, I will decide when we give them the pills!"

The servant immediately knew that he was crossing the line, and fell back to his position, following the claymores as they carried Dae Sama.

_Who are these people? Where are they taking me? What are these things in me? Where is Priscilla? _Raki asked himself as he lay in the cold metal cage. He had been fighting against the infection for a while now, and the pills they gave him have helped a lot, but they also made him weak and exhausted. A_re these members of the organization?_

Raki didn't like where this was heading. It was clear to him that these people were interested in him only because of the infection spreading through his body. He could feel the roots spreading inside his very veins making their way to his internal organs. He roared of pain as he felt one attempting to pass one of his ribs as it fractured under the pressure.

_Must fight this…. I mustn't allow… this thing…. To take….over me…_

Dae Sama kept an eye on Raki throughout the entire trip. His eyes were pointed towards him like a hawk to its prey. Dae knew he got something special here, he knew there was something special about Raki that allowed him to fight the infection, but what that exactly was, he would let Jeves find out.

Dae was loosing his patience. This trip was taking too long, he couldn't wait to learn more about this young man and his incredible ability to stop such a nasty infection. He licked his lips as he spoke the words.

"You there young man what's your name?" he asked politely.

Raki was under too much pain to even think about a response. The last thing he wanted to do was talk to this man, a man who gave him extremely bad vibes, he knew this man was bad news. One only needed to look at his ugly face to know this.

"Can you hear me my child?" he added.

Summoning all his strength and willpower, Raki struggled the words: "Who are you?"

"My my answering a question with a question is considered rude, didn't you parents teach you that?" he hissed

Raki closed his eyes, and tightly gripped his shoulder as a sudden spike of sharp pain developed there. He could feel his right shoulder turning numb, and he could barely even feel it anymore. _At this rate…the infection will win….._ He thought to himself.

"Oh I'm sorry, how rude of me, I didn't even ask if you have parents…. Or if they're alive…." He said coldly.

Raki turned to face him as rage built raced throughout his body, suddenly he forgot about the infection and was staring into the eyes of this man. Dae realized what he had said had caused an emotional response, as he gave a sinister grin.

E_xcellent, it seems anger helps to oppose the infection…..Da_e Sama thought to himself.

"Oh so your parents are dead then? What a pity…. Tell me, did your father scream like a little girl when a yoma was eating his guts?"

Raki let out a grunt as he faced away from him, once again concentrating on his infection.

_Priscilla….. Clare….. Where are you?… I need you more than ever now…… please…..find me……._

Dae Sama bowed his head and crossed his arms. A hint of satisfaction filled his face as he knew that this specimen was going to be something big.

_Your going to make me very proud young man… enjoy your time in that cage, for I promise it is paradise compared to what I have planned for you later._


	5. Chapter 5

As promised here is chapter 5.

Please review people! I want to know what you think, even if you think it's not important, it's very important to me!

I had quite a tough time with the opening scene but anyways….

Enjoy.

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The ghosts have all returned to Rabona after their much deserved break from training, and are spending the rest of the night at the local pub, which Helen insisted upon visiting. Clare was sitting by herself on a table against the wall, Miria and Tabitha were having a conversation in the corner of the room, while the rest were sitting around the middle table.

"Hey Crare…, come annd ave a drink!" pleaded Helen, sounding as drunk as ever as she staggered towards her.

Clare turned to face Helen expecting to see something that would make her wish she never knew her. And Helen didn't disappoint. She had her arms around Sid as she laughed like a mad woman, totally wasted from all the beer she drank in the past hour. Sid looked like he was drunk too, but he looked uncomfortable and embarrassed about being held by a mad woman like that.

Clare faced away as she took another sip of her glass of water. She never drank anything but water and especially disliked alcohol. She just wasn't the kind of person to lose her self-respect like Helen, and she always tried to do the things she thought Teresa would do.

"Come on Crare, dunn be liiike that" Helen slurred next to Clare as she took another sip of her beer.

At that moment Cynthia rammed into Helen, looking…drunk. Clare was surprised to see Cynthia drunk, for she was usually one of the more sensible ones. Clare bobbed her head down and made a face palm as she watched the two almost fall over each other.

_Looks like Helen finally got to her…_

"Wow… the room… is spinnin? Muttered Cynthia

"It's greeeat yeah?

"I'm likke sooo happy" Yelled Cynthia

"umm Helen, you're going to break my neck" muttered Cid, sounding like he was in serious pain as he was being held tightly by Helen.

"did you say yoou wanted a kiss?"

"no.. I said…"

Helen latched on to his face as she planted a long kiss on his lips. He seemed to resist at first, but he couldn't overpower her as much as he tried, and as she let go, he started to blush greatly.

Even Cynthia seemed surprised by what Helen did, but it didn't take long for that stupid grin to settle back on her drunken face.

"Heey Helen, let mee have a turrn!"

"NOoo he's mine!"

"You know what, I think I'll just go home" Sid pleaded sounding nervous as he slowly backed off from the two warriors that started to push each other, but because of their drunken state, they could barely aim for each other properly and their fight looked more like a pathetic battle between two drunk sloths.

Sid returned to his seat next to Galk with a sigh of relief over his face. Clare saw him muttering something to Galk as she saw the two warriors approach him from behind.

"Oh noo youu donnt" slurred Cynthia as she and Helen knocked him off his chair, grabbing him by his feet, and pulling him on the wooden floor towards them as he begged Galk for help, but the only response Galk gave him was a cheeky smile that echoed the words : _sorry, your on your own._

_Poor Sid… Helen please don't scar that young man for life, _plead Deneve as she watched her friend smooch the young man all over with Cynthia.

"Theree I fink he had enough" Giggled Helen

"That wass fun, I fink we shud do it again" replied Cynthia as she released her firm grip on Sid. As she did this, he immediately got to his feet and ran towards the door of the pub.

"No, please no! have mercy! Your both crazy!" he yelled as he ran out the door.

"Noo funn, why diid he run away?" Questioned Cynthia sounding confused.

"maybee… you're a bad kisser" replied Helen.

"Maybee hee doesn't like youur face!"

Once again the two started pushing each other as they began to fight. Helen tripped over her own feet as she landed next to Tabitha and Miria's table with a loud thud on the hard wooden floor. As she struggled to pick herself up, she faced Tabitha.

"Whatt are youu talking about with Miria?"

"leave us alone please Helen" Tabitha replied calmly who seemed totally unhappy by Helen's presence.

Helen sat next to Miria and put her head on her shoulder, almost falling over her captain as she continued to face Tabitha.

"Helen get off me" urged Miria

Ignoring Miria, Helen continued: "I'm srry, Tabi, I hope I'mm not ruining your chances!" she teased as she began to laugh her head off.

Tabitha rose to her feet red faced, as she started to yell words at Helen. However Helen was to drunk to understand them properly and turned to face Miria.

"youuu know…s she likees girlss"

"Shut up Helen! No I don't!"

Suddenly Cynthia pulled Helen off Miria and planted a kiss on her lips. The two fell on the table spilling all the drinks over as they lay on top of each other. As drunk as Helen was she realized that this way going way over the line and this is something not even she would ever do.

Cynthia gave off a lighthearted chuckle as she clearly didn't understand what she had done.

"kissing is funn, Helen kiss me again!"

Looking dumbfounded, Helen stared into Cynthia's eyes.

"Cynthia you can't just kiss anyone like that!"

Cynthia stopped smiling and slowly made her way of Helen, almost falling over the table.

"Oh…., so its not something people doo when they have fun?" she asked lightly with that smile once again returning to her face.

"You cant be serious that u don't know?" Remarked Helen.

"No I don't… I'mm sorry Helenn"

"Wow Cynthia, I neverr knew youu were such thick headed, I'll explainn what a kiss is to youu later…,maybe youu shud stopp drunkin"

"No, I cann take moar Helen!" she yelled as she darted towards the middle table and falling on it. She clumsily grabbed all the drinks she could find and began drinking at a pace that would even amaze Helen.

_What an idiot_ thought Deneve as she watched the girl in front of her fall unconscious on the table.

Miria bobbed her head down on the table as she placed both hands on her face, who seemed embarrassed about being the captain of such a reckless team of fools.

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Teresa could no longer feel the soothing water running passed her hands, nor could she hear the slight howl of the wind, or the graceful sound of a little bird chirping of in the distance. There was dead silence.

She could no longer feel the soft cushion of grass against her body, nor could she smell the soothing scent of the outdoors.

Teresa lay against something cold and hard. The surface felt like smooth hard rock with traces of dust on the surface. She smelt the scent of blood and guts all around her as she began to open her eyes and gaze upon thick metal bars.

She got to her knees as she frantically looked around her surroundings. She found herself within a large metal cage encased by think iron bars. The cage was little more than 5 by 5 meters and rose surprisingly high, probably about 20 or so meters she thought.

Rubbing her eyes, she got to her feet and walked to one of the thick iron bars encasing her in. With all her might, she thrusted her palm against the iron bar but there was no use. The bar was way too thick and wasn't moving an inch.

"So it seems you have regained almost all your strength" a sinister voice Hissed from the shadows behind Teresa.

She turned around to face the source of the sound, as lights illuminated the area outside her cage. The lights revealed an enormous room with two large iron gates on either side. The room was made up of hard rock that contained many large pillars holding up the heavy stone roof. The floor was littered with skeletons of humans… and non-human creatures.

Outside of Teresa's cage, a man in a black suit stood. His face was full of scars, and his eyes told a thousand stories about his twisted past, and inevitable future. Teresa didn't know who this was, but he didn't seem like a guy anyone would want to ever know.

"Identify yourself" Teresa commanded as she crossed her arms, bobbing her head down as she closed her eyes.

"My name is Jeves, please to meet you pet" he said coldly, as a smirk developed over his face.

"What do you mean pet? Who do you think you are?"

"You will soon know your place, for now we want to see how good you really are"

"And what makes you think I will comply?" Teresa answered angrily.

Without responding to her words, Jeves began walking towards one of the huge iron gates that began to open on the far side of the room. She watched him enter the gate as the massive doors closed behind him. The enormous weight of the gates shook the stone underneath Teresa's feet as it slowly closed.

_This cannot be good. The only reason they would have a gate that size is to contain something… surely if I cannot even break these iron bars within this cage, then why would they even bother with those gigantic gates? Unless….. they are containing something big….. Something that likes to eat human guts….._

As Teresa realized what was about to happen, she heard a large metal object fall inside her cage from the roof of the room. She let out a sigh of relief as she knew the object that fell was her own claymore. Over the years she knew her claymore to the smallest detail, and could even recognize the distinct sound it made when it fell on stone.

Teresa turned around, walked towards her beloved weapon and picked it up with her right hand.

As Teresa held the claymore, she felt relieved as it was no longer as heavy as before, or actually, she was much stronger than before and instead it seemed lighter.

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Watching from a platform high above, Jeves and a mysterious figure in a black hat and suit were discussing ways to test Teresa.

"Lets start with something… easy" insisted Jeves.

"yes, it's best to warm her up" replied the mysterious figure.

"What do you think? Which yoma should we send in…. or better yet…. How many?"

"well, lets first send in one" replied the figure.

Jeves felt himself getting excited as he was about to watch his experiment go up against a yoma. He had gone through so much trail and error to revive that body of hers, and just the sight of her holding her claymore brought shivers to his spine.

"well then, lets send in Jeff…" hissed Jeves.

"isn't that too much too soon?"

"no… I have a good feeling about her abilities"

" I think I would know about that better, I was actually around when she was still in the organization" the figure added.

"Just don't forget who's in charge here. We are sending in Jeff"

"And what if she is slaughtered?, we wont be able to revive her if she is ripped to shreds, Dae sama will have your head" noted the dark suited figure.

"as far as I remember, we didn't tell him, so he won't know" replied Jeves eyeing Teresa closely from the great height.

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Teresa heard the deafening sound of metal grinding against rock, and the ground beneath her feet shake as the enormous gates began to open.

There stood a rather large figure in a silhouette of light. It was humanoid in shape as it exited the gate and entered the room.

_My my… that's quite a big yoma_ Teresa thought to herself smiling as she saw the 10 meter tall green beast approach her cage, creating mini shockwaves with every step.

_What did they feed this thing?_

The front of Teresa's cage began to open, as heavy chains connected to the ceiling lifted the entire side upwards, exposing her to the hungry yoma.

The beast eyed its prey as it began walking towards her, seeming confident of its victory.

"I'm gonna rip you to shreds little girl!" the beast roared with it's deep monstrous voice as it approached Teresa.

_This is their idea of a test? They have to be joking _Teresa thought to herself as she ran towards the beast, dragging her claymore along behind her. She examined the yoma channels within the beast's body and anticipated it's every move.

_Right arm swipe towards me_.

As the beast swiped it's right monstrous arm, Teresa jumped on top of it, and plowed her claymore deep within it's wrists, dragging it up the arm as she ran towards it's shoulder.

"AARRGGG!" the monster roared as it's right arm was cut in two. Pools of purple blood spurted everywhere as the enormous arm fell on the floor.

"You little bitch!"

Teresa jumped off its shoulder as the beast violently tried to shake her off with it's remaining arm. She gracefully landed behind it and struck her blade deep in it's right leg getting it stuck.

_Hmm looks like I'm a bit weaker than I thought_.

Teresa tapped into her yoma aura as she borrowed 10% of its power to push the blade through the remaining part of the creature's leg. Easily slicing the dense bone as the creature fell on it's back.

"No way…. How ….. can you….beat me?" the beast whimpered as Teresa jumped on its chest.

Smiling, she sliced the beast's neck with her claymore hundreds of times with incredible speed going deeper and deeper into its flesh with every successive swing.

Teresa stared at the beast with her yellow eyes as the beast's head was slowly being separated from its body.

"Bitc…." The monster sobbed as its head met with the cold hard rock.

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"So tell me… being one of the very few who had seen Teresa fight in her prime all those years ago…did she perform as you have expected?"

The figure grabbed his hat with his hands as he replied:

"Her fighting ability appears to be unchanged from the past"

"excellent, this means the experiment is a great success, and she still hasn't fully recovered." Jeves implied

"yes, most impressive Jeves"

Jeves let out a slight chuckle as he watched Teresa jump off the yoma.

"So tell me Rubel, what do you recommend we send in next?"

Rubel let go off his hat as a grin settled on his face.

"Begin sending in the awaken beings, she should have no problem with any of them".

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Next chapter I will try to Finnish by tomorrow, and if not tomorrow then definitely the day after that.

Stay tuned!


	6. Chapter 6

Well here is chapter 6 people.

Please review!

I want to know what you guys think, I feel more motivated when I read your reviews.

Anyways enjoy.

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_This girl…. Or monster should I say has surpassed all of my expectations. She absolutely slaughtered even our strongest awaken beings… and those awaken beings were no slouches…. We must control this power…._

Jeves sat on his wooden chair astounded as he watched Teresa Finnish off the last awaken being by slicing its head off. She was covered in purple blood and was completely unwounded, standing in the middle of a sea of dead corpses. She didn't even receive a single scratch from the seemingly intense fight.

He noticed her drop her sword on the hard stone floor as she yelled facing the platform high above her.

"IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED?"

Rubel and Jeves let out a light chuckle as they turned to face each other.

"Well then, that was quite a show. Now that she is tired, I will interrogate her, see if I can convert her" sneered Jeves.

"I agree" Rubel replied smiling coldly

"I will organize the interrogation immediately, afterwards she will be placed in a cellar underneath my laboratory… seeing as you knew her in the past, you are the best suited to guard her and make sure she doesn't escape"

_Thank you Jeves you fool… you just made my job a whole lot easier_ thought Rubel.

"I would be delighted" Rubel replied with a sneer of delight on his face.

"so be it" Jeves hissed.

"How are you going to get her in the interrogation room?"

"The pill I gave her before she woke up in that little cage should be settling in right about now"

Rubel looked deep into Jeves' eyes as he asked: "what if the effects were to happen while she was fighting?"

"That cannot happen, adrenalin stops the effects, once she has calmed down, the pills take affect."

"Ingenious" replied Rubel, turning to face Teresa, as he hinted for signs for drowsiness.

Soon enough Teresa felt an overwhelming feeling of tiredness as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

_What's wrong with me, why is it so hard to think…. Why… is….it so….hard….to…_

Teresa opened her eyes and found herself in a small room in front of Jeves who was sitting on a chair smiling. Audrey and two other warriors were standing next to him without any emotion or empathy present on their faces. Not like She was expecting any anyway.

She stood up and noticed that her body was surprisingly heavy and slow. Teresa turned her face to one side and noticed heavy metal chains coming from the wall connected to her wrist. She looked at the other side and noticed another chain connected to her other wrist. Looking down, her feet were also chained down to the cold rocky floor.

_Dam, I don't think I can break these chains…. I can only move each limb maybe a foot or so, not enough to defend myself from anything._

"Welcome back Teresa, I'm glad you've woken"

Teresa lifted her head as a flood of anger engulfed her body. She saw Jeves with that usual grin, speaking calmly as if he did nothing wrong.

"So you want to violate me? Fine take your best shot, I don't care"

"Violate you?... no my dear pet, I'm here to torture you….torture you until you beg for mercy….. torture you until… you join the organization." Jeves said coldly, sounding as sinister as ever.

"Take your best shot… your nothing but a useless tool to the organization"

"See, that is exactly what I don't want you to be thinking." He sneered as he grinned wildly. "You are the tool"

Teresa let out a smile as she tilted her head down speaking the words quietly:

"We warriors…are nothing but tools for you huh?"

Audrey felt a great deal of strange emotions fill her mind. She felt like she was betraying a friend, that she joined the wrong side…she felt betrayed by the organization, that she is just a tool to be thrown away as Teresa implied. Deep down she always knew this, but it never bothered her as much as it did in this moment.

"You warriors are nothing but instruments of our will. You surrendered your humanity when you came to us"

Teresa didn't respond to his harsh words as he crossed his fingers and began to lick his lips.

"Audrey proceed to beat her" he said calmly.

Audrey felt her heart skip a beat as she processed those words that seemed to echo in her head. She turned to face his calm looking face, hoping that he wasn't serious.

But he was dead serious.

He stared deep into her eyes knowing full well that she didn't want to obey the command.

_No… no way…. I don't want to do this…beat Teresa?... I hate you so much Jeves….. I swear I will….._

"Well I'm waiting" Jeves noted patiently still gazing at her with those snake eyes.

Audrey turned her face away from him and closed her eyes, not knowing what to say… eventually she summoned enough courage to disobey his orders.

"no…" she whimpered silently

Teresa was surprised to hear Audrey say that, but it was futile, she was going to get beaten to a bloody pulp and she knew it. At this point there was nothing she could do, and to make the entire experience less painful, she decided to not resist, to not give Jeves the satisfaction he so desperately craved.

"What was that? I didn't hear you" he replied with a hint of frustration in his voice.

"no" she repeated angrily.

Jeves sat back on his chair and began laughing hysterically, almost falling off the chair as he did so.

_This is perfect!, Audrey feels attached to Teresa! this is going to hurt her almost as much as it's going to hurt Teresa! Talk about two birds with one stone!_

As Jeves began to calm down he turned to face Audrey whose facial expression turned from anger to fear. She knew that she couldn't say no again, and as much as she hated herself at this moment, she had to do what he said.

Audrey approached Teresa slowly, who still had her head facing the ground looking like a rag doll, as her weight was supported by the heavy chains that laced around her wrists. Audrey lifted her right arm getting it ready for a punch and pondering which area would hurt Teresa the least, but before she could finish, Jeves ordered:

"On the side of the face"

_I'm sorry Teresa… please forgive me._

Audrey clenched her wrist tight as she delivered the blow to the side of Teresa's head, with force that would not be considered too weak or too strong to the others. Audrey felt a tear develop in her eye as she saw Teresa's head violently thrust to the side.

"Good, now do her gut"

Once again Audrey delivered a punch to the area instructed and squirmed as she realized how much pain she had given to Teresa.

An hour passed and Audrey continued beating Teresa under the orders of Jeves, who strategically chose areas he considered 'weak spots'. But throughout the ordeal Teresa refused to make a single sound

_Teresa…. I hate myself for this…..please forgive me…. _Audrey thought as she knelt down and began to cry, no longer listening to Jeves' orders.

Jeves wore his usual sadistic smile throughout the entire ordeal, and at the sight of Audrey collapsing in tears, he couldn't help but let out a big grin of satisfaction.

"you have done well Audrey"

He stood up and approached Teresa, moving his head towards her's as she continued to face the ground, which was now a pool of blood. He stroked her hair and took a deep sniff with his nose.

"This can all stop if you just submit…. Give up….. what are you fighting for? Your life? Its meaningless…."

Teresa was holding back her anger for an opportunity such as this. During the past hour, with every punch Audrey delivered, Teresa would tug on the chain with her right arm, timing it just right to not remain suspicious, pulling it more loose with every successive tug. As Jeves stood there so close to her, she figured this was her chance.

Tapping into her yoma powers, she increased the muscle mass of her right arm instantly and yanked at the massive chain as hard as she could, pulling it off the wall, and grabbing his throat with her hands, and holding him above the ground.

The other claymores immediately ran towards Jeves and proceeded to beat Teresa in an attempt to let go of the dying Jeves.

_Should I help her? Should I stay here? What should I do? If I help her and she fails, I'm dead, but if I don't help her then Teresa will be dead_. What should I do… _what should I do… WHAT SHOULD I DO!_

Before Audrey could decide, the other claymores managed to force Teresa's powerful hand to let go of Jeves who fell down screaming in pain. His neck was bleeding furiously as one of the warriors attempted to stop the bleeding with her hands, while the other knocked Teresa out with a powerful blow to the back of her head.

"Jeves are you alright?" the first warrior wailed as she struggled to control the massive bleeding.

"put… the subject….in….her…cellar….." he mumbled, chocking from his own blood as he fell unconscious.

Audrey felt a sigh of relief as she knew the ordeal was over, and that Teresa would have some time to rest in her cellar.

_I swear, I will get you out of here Teresa. Mark my words, I will not let him do this to you again._

"Quickly place the boy on the table!" Dae Sama yelled as his servants struggled to control the young man who didn't seem happy about being touched. They placed him violently against a medical looking table and strapped him down against it.

Raki felt himself loosing consciousness as his body approached its limits. The pain had been so intense during the past few hours, that he thought was going to die from it alone. Raki heard frantic footsteps around him and felt people poke his body all over. At this point, he decided to give up so he closed his eyes and gave in to the pain.

"Idiots! Where is the suppressant? He needs more suppressants!"

One of the servants frantically ran in the room holding an enormous needle in his hands as he darted towards Raki.

"Hurry! Before it's too late!" stormed Dae with a hint of fear in his voice.

The servant pushed the needle deep within Raki's neck, and injected the fluid in his body. Raki felt the needle in his neck as the servant injected the fluid, but brushed the pain off as a mere 'prick' compared what he was going through the past few hours.

Dae held his breath as he eyed the young man closely. A look of shock developed on his face as he saw the two organic poles that pierced his body begin to retract within his body.

_Amazing, it appears his body is fusing with them… or is he going to awaken?_

"Where is Jeves!" Dae yelled frantically.

"Dae sama, he is in the clinic, wounded from one of his experiments"

"I don't care get him in here!" he ordered harshly.

The servant gave a nod as he ran out the door. Dae carefully walked towards the young man, watching the poles slowly fusing with his body, making a fleshy organic sound, much like the sound of meat being grinded.

The organic poles have been getting smaller throughout the transportation process, but suddenly after the injection of the experimental suppressant, they have been shriveling at a much faster pace. Dae Sama was excited and worried at the same time, he didn't know whether the man was alive or dead, and if he was alive, whether or not he would suddenly attack.

_Jeves get your sorry ass in here as soon as possible_ he mumbled to himself as he backed off from Raki.

Audrey paced through a long stone hallway approaching the claymore common room. She plead with the other two warriors to let her bring Teresa to her Cellar, but the warriors immediately refused and sent her away. It was obvious that she felt attached to Teresa, and their logic was right. She probably would have tried to escape with her if they gave her the chance.

She let out a sigh as she reflected on the past hour. The horrible things she had to do to her. Things that are unforgivable. Inflicting that much punishment to a body, even a half yoma- half human body…. was completely cruel. She was amazed at Teresa's strength. Not only her physical strength, but her mental determination. Audrey knew that if she was in Teresa's situation she would have cracked in the first few minutes, but Teresa survived the entire hour.

Audrey stopped to a halt as she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around to see the same man with that distinct black hat and suit who spoke to Teresa at the training grounds.

"We meet again Audrey" he said with a big smile on his face.

"You said your name was Rubel… am I correct?"

"That's correct" he replied holding his hat with one hand and pulling it tighter on his head.

"What do you want?" Audrey grunted, folding her arms and turning to face the wall on her right.

"I want what you want"

"Oh and what would that be"

letting go of his hat, he continued, "I want Teresa to escape"

The two didn't say a word to each other for a short period of time. Both of them looked like they were wondering what to say next, as if carefully choosing their words.

Audrey decided to break the silence.

"I know not of your intentions, but at this point I don't care. We both have the same goal it seems, so I'm listening to whatever you have to say"

Rubel began to grin as he looked around them for signs of any potential eavesdroppers and to his relief there seemed to be none. He already made dam sure that they were alone when he followed her, but it's always a safe bet to double check.

"If Teresa is to escape, then we must work together to let it happen"

Audrey gave a nod as she listened to his cunning plan, smiling.

_Well that actually might work_ she thought to herself.


	7. Chapter 7

well here is chapter 7.

please review!

please leave a comment!

enjoy.

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It was a cold and lonely night as Clare walked through the endless field of grass that surrounded her. The night was truly breathtaking, especially because of the full moon shining it's magnificent silver rays over the land. The wind was blowing gently on Clare's body, waving her hair as she took in the serenity of her surroundings.

Clare had woken up late at night and left the city of Rabona for some time alone. She left the church undetected and proceeded to walk out of the city, through the front gates.

As she looked back, the city seemed like a small town of to the distance, and nothing like the large city it actually was. She closed her eyes and let the peaceful silence soothe her troubled mind.

She had a dream… a dream about Teresa.

She dreamt that she was a little girl again.

Clare took a deep breath as she remembered Teresa's face.

She remembered those silver eyes of hers, eyes of pain and loneliness. Eyes that Clare once had herself.

She remembered her beautiful wavy hair and that unique way it reflected the sun.

She remembered her soothing voice. The voice of an angel as it called her name.

She remembered the way she used to snuggle against her, feeling the warmth of her body and the overwhelming feeling of safety it radiated.

She remembered her exact facial expression when the townspeople cheered for her after she killed the yoma that terrorized them. It was a face of surprise and happiness, and the face Clare will never forget.

But most of all, she remembered that distinct faint smile she always wore. The smile that told her that everything was going to be all right.

_Teresa… why did you have to die? _Clare whimpered as tears fell from her eyes.

_What would you do if you were alive? _

_Would you be proud of me? _

_Would you smile at me like you did back then? _

_Would you still love me like I love you?_

Clare fell to her knees as she surrendered to her emotions. She began to weep as she saw images of Teresa looking straight at her with a warm smile. Then suddenly, Teresa's face changed to shock, then fear… and then to pain. She watched Teresa die as she desperately called Clare's name. The sound of her dying voice echoed in her head for what seemed like an eternity.

Clare returned back to reality, realizing she was shaking like that little girl she used to be so long ago. As she continued to kneel against the soft green grass, she looked up at the moon, which reminded her of the time when that Bandit in the woods attacked Teresa.

Clare remembered hitting him on the head with all her might as he turned around to attack her, but was saved by Teresa.

She recalled how Teresa looked down on her during that moment, similar to how the moon is looking down on her now, as she held out her hand reaching for Clare and gently spoke the words:

_Can you stand… Clare?_

Immediately the moon morphed into an image of Teresa as Clare held out her hand in an attempt to reach hers. But as hard as she tried and as much as she wanted to, she couldn't reach Teresa's hand. Teresa started to fade away as the image of the pale moon returned once again.

Clare slowly lowered her trembling hand as she collapsed on the ground. Her face met with the cold dirt as it reminded her of her days with Teresa. It brought back memories of when she slept out in forest next to Teresa.

Clare closed her eyes and imagined Teresa leaning against her sword a few meters away from her, just as she did a long time ago.

She would do anything to go back to that moment.

_Teresa… _Clare whimpered as she fell asleep.

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Jeves entered the experimentation room where he saw a man in the middle of the room strapped down to one of his tables. He looked over to his left and saw Dae sitting on a comfortable looking chair guarded by two of the organizations warriors.

"How is your neck?"

"It's fine now" he replied not sounding like his usual self.

"is something the matter?" implied Dae sounding suspicious.

"No, just a yoma experiment gone wrong"

"Well I suppose one extra scar won't make much of a difference on your scar riddled body now will it?"

"Like you're to talk" he hissed coldly.

The two claymores held their breath and reached for their swords as they expected Dae Sama to order them to strike him down. The warriors have never seen anyone talk to Dae in such a manner before, and to their relief, Dae let out a light chuckle as he rose from his chair.

"That's why you're the best in the business Jeves, your not afraid of anything"

Jeves turned to face the young man in the middle of the room.

"So this is the boy" he uttered.

"He is the only one we are aware of who seemed to resist the transformation process… interesting don't you think?"

"very peculiar" replied Jeves who looked terribly excited about having a new pet.

"go and inspect him, I want you to see it with your own eyes."

Jeves gave a nod as he approached the unconscious specimen grinning wildly as he went along.

The young man seemed completely normal to him, there was absolutely no sign of the terrible infection he was informed about earlier.

Dae noticed the confusion on Jeves' face as he spoke:

"He seems normal… but I want you to make sure. An infection of that magnitude simply cannot disappear that easily."

Jeves turned to face Dae, "what did you give him?"

"we gave him an injection of that experimental suppressant you helped create"

"Oh and he didn't die from it?" Jeves laughed coldly

"that's your job to figure out" noted Dae.

"I will do my best"

"Report any further developments of the subject to me. I must be going, I have other matters to attend to."

Dae turned to face the two claymores that were still standing next to his chair.

"you two stay here and attend to Jeves. We don't want that young man killing him now do we" he questioned.

"Yes boss" they both replied in almost perfect synchronization.

Jeves watched Dae exit the room as he turned to face Raki. He ran his cold dirty hands across his body.

_His body is still warm_, he thought to himself.

Without turning to face the two warriors Jeves questioned "identify yourselves"

The two warriors turned to face each other, until one of them began to speak. "My name is…"

Before she could finish, Jeves rudely interrupted. "I don't care about your names! I only want your numbers!"

"my number is 28" the first warrior continued.

"mine is 37" the other added.

Jeves let out a sigh as he heard those low ranking numbers. _Dae couldn't you do better than that? What if this boy was an awaken being?_

He bowed his head down as thought to himself, _He seems totally fine… the only necessary test required is a test against one of these warriors._

He sneered coldly to both the warriors. "Pick the boy up."

Immediately both warriors walked on either side of the bed, un-strapped his bonds and picked him up.

"follow me"

The three of them walked across a number of hallways until they approached a large iron gate. Jeves indicated to one of the organizations servants stationed there to open the large iron door, and slowly the enormous gates began to open.

Jeves turned to face the two claymores as he commanded:

"Number 37 carry the boy inside and place him on the floor. When he wakes up I want you to challenge him to a fight… let me make it clear that you are not to kill him. You are merely there to test his abilities….Number 28, give her your sword. The boy will fight her with that sword."

Numbers 37 and 28 gave a nod, understanding the command. 37 threw Raki over her shoulder while 28 handed over her sword.

"close the gate after her" Jeves instructed the servant.

Turning to face warrior number 28 Jeves continued "Follow me to the platform. We will be spectators" he sneered sounding excited.

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An hour passed as Number 37 stood in front of Raki, waiting for him to wake.

_The pain is gone… I feel… so much better. Where Am I? what happened to me? Who were those people?_

Raki opened his eyes to find himself in an enormous room made of hard rock with two large iron gates on either side. The room looked more like a large stadium as it was riddled with thick rocky pillars and a sea of skeletons. There was a woman standing before him with her arms crossed. She had long blond hair that almost reached to her hips, a calm looking face with silver eyes and wore the standard claymore amour.

Raki frantically got to his feet, scanning his left shoulder for signs of the infection but to his surprise he didn't see them.

"you're a clay… I mean a warrior of the organization." he stuttered

The warrior stood there as calm as a statue, and seemed to completely ignore Raki. Eventually she softly replied:

"I will not answer any of your questions. Pick up that claymore next to you and come attack me with it"

Raki didn't even make a move when he heard her say that. He certainly didn't want to attack a claymore of all things. But seeing as he probably had no choice, he turned to face the weapon she told him about and walked over to it. He knelt down and placed his hand on the grip as he picked it up.

_What?.... why is this claymore so light? it's supposed to be really heavy…._

"is there a problem?" the warrior asked in her calm voice as she noticed the confused look on his face.

"no… not at all" Raki stuttered.

"good then let us begin… come at me"

"wait!" He urged. "I don't want to fight you… I just want to know if you heard of a warrior by the name of Clare, she was the former number 47"

The claymore closed her eyes still looking as calm as ever. As she reached for her sword from it's holster on her back.

"No I have never heard of a warrior named 'Clare'"

"oh.." Raki responded calmly.

"draw your weapon and attack me" she added.

"listen, I'd really rather not…"

"Just do it" she snapped, finally raising her calm voice.

Raki could see that she was loosing her patience. But he had so many questions on his mind left to ask. He decided to try his luck and attempt to get some information out of her.

"Where am I?"

"I told you I will not answer any of your questions. If you want to know more you must comply"

Raki held his sword tightly in his right hand as he knew he wasn't getting any information from her. He analyzed his opponent and knew full well that he probably couldn't defeat her with a sword that weighed like paper. _What is she expecting? _He thought as he braced himself in attack position.

The warrior held up her claymore and took a defensive stance as Raki raced towards her with surprising speed. Their claymore's clashed creating sparks as he ran past her, almost tripping over himself.

_What the hell? Why am I so fast?.... my feet… they have so much strength… and this claymore…. The way it clashed with hers, must mean it isn't as light as it seems._

"What have you done to me!" he yelled at her as he dropped his sword, staring deep into the silver eyes of the shocked warrior.

"I don't know anything. I've just been told to fight you" she replied, sounding less confident than before.

Raki felt confused and… excited at the same time. He never felt so good before. His strength and agility have increased dramatically. He moved like a claymore now.

Raki walked over to his weapon and once again picked it up. He looked over at the warrior who maintained her defensive stance as he walked towards her holding his blade.

"attack me" she snapped

Raki quickly darted towards the warrior as he swung his blade towards her body with great acceleration. The warrior could barely react fast enough to parry the blow, and the sheer force of the attack pushed her backwards. Raki swung the blade again towards her body as she parried again. He continued his attacks against the warrior who barely managed to stop his blows.

The warrior jumped away from his blade as it was about to slice her body in two, and landed about 10 meters away from Raki.

"where did you learn to fight like that!" she pleaded sounding desperate to know the answer.

"oh well you wouldn't believe me if I told you, lets just say it was from a friend I met in the north."

_No way… how could this man fight so well… the way he swings that blade with no effort is amazing…. No….its impossible for a human. He already made me sweat and he still looks as calm as when he started. I don't know who he is, but he definitely is no ordinary human._

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_next chapter should be up soon! leave a comment please!_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 is up guys.

I have read all reviews so far and I thank the users who gave their time to review.

As for those that didn't review please do so, I promise I will read them all and consider any ideas.

Enjoy.

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"Almost got me!" Raki teased as he avoided the exhausted warriors heavy claymore with ease as it hit the rocky floor with such impact it created a large crack in the stone.

Number 37 had been fighting Raki for the past few minutes but couldn't even scratch him. He was moving at an incredible pace and deflected all her blows without much effort. His sword technique was on pair with hers, but his true power came from his sheer strength and agility.

As Raki dodged blow after blow, 37 was forced to release more and more yoma power in an attempt to land a hit. She was already approaching 30% but still felt it wasn't nearly enough to take Raki down.

40%...

50%...

"Woah! Maybe next time" Raki laughed as he deflected a blow that was aimed at his legs.

The warrior paced herself away from him as she stared into his cheerful eyes.

_Why is he smiling?... is he having fun?... am I really no match for him even though I'm approaching my limit? Who is this guy?_

Jeves and number 28 watched on the platform high above as Raki battled against number 37. Raki seemed like he was toying with her… it looked like he was enjoying himself. He was in total control as he was superior in every aspect.

_Yes… this is too perfect…. He can easily defeat 37….._

Jeves turned to face number 28 as he said smiling:

"Get in there and help her"

Number 28 turned to Jeves. "I require a sword. That boy is using mine"

"ahh yes yes, I keep a few spares locked away in that chest over there" He hissed.

She turned to face a rather large old wooden chest that seemed unlocked. She walked towards it, lifting up the lid and saw three claymores placed within. None of them had any symbols attached to them, and they were all in the same flawless condition. She grabbed the nearest one and returned back to Jeves.

With a nod number 28 walked towards the edge of the platform and jumped off, falling towards her comrade and her target.

She landed with a loud thump as the dust on the rocky floor was kicked up in the air. 37 and Raki turned to face the newcomer as she walked towards them. She was a rather tall warrior with plain white hair that reached up to her shoulders. She had the face of a doll and skin almost as white as a ghost.

"I have been told to assist you" she calmly said to her comrade.

37 began to calm down, and started to suppress her yoma powers. Her body turned back to normal making that usual bone-cracking noise and her yellow eyes once again returned to their normal silver state.

"young man we have been given orders not to kill you. So you don't have to worry about that" added 28.

"I suppose you can't possibly tell me where I am?" Raki asked sounding unconfident and expecting a harsh response.

"I will not answer any of your questions" replied number 28.

_What was I seriously expecting?_ He thought to himself.

"two against one… give me a break" Raki sighed.

Smiling, number 28 pulled her claymore from the holster on her back and pointed it towards Raki, while facing her comrade.

They both gave each other a nod to as they dashed towards Raki.

"Hey wait!" Raki yelled as he barely managed to evade one of their blows and parry another.

_Even the two of them are no match for this young man…. I cannot wait to see what he is fully capable of…_ Jeves thought to himself.

The two warriors attacked mercilessly as Raki gracefully dodged their attacks. Their heavy Claymores often met the ground, making large cracks in the hard rock.

"why don't you attack us!" number 28 yelled as she continued her blows.

"I don't want to attack a lady!" Raki replied parrying her attack .

_lady?_

"I am a monster nothing else." She replied coldly.

"well to me your not"

Number 28 stopped her blows and looked at her hands. She remembered when she was a little girl being taken by a man in a black robe. She remembers the brutal training she had to endure. How she was constantly reminded of being a monster..,. that she was no longer human.

Number 37 turned to face her comrade as she stood there looking astonished.

"is there a problem?" she asked

"no problem" 28 responded faintly.

Suddenly an object fell from the platform above. Number 28 went over and picked up the parchment, which gave them orders to return to Jeves.

She clenched her fists as she faced Raki. She couldn't understand why he was so powerful. _He is a mere human…_ _how is this possible?._

28 threw her sword towards Raki, with the blade landing close to his feet.

"give me back my claymore. You can use the one I threw to you."

"oh… sure" he replied sounding uncertain, as he threw back her weapon.

As 28 grabbed her claymore, the two warriors made their way to one of the giant gates that began to open.

"hey wait! What about me?" Raki questioned.

"you are to remain here" responded number 28.

Jeves heard the sound of metal boots tap against the hard rocky floor as the warriors approach him from behind. He let out a grin as he sat on his chair, watching Raki from below.

"so… how did he do?"

The two warriors looked at each other, as if unsure of what to say. Number 28 bobbed her head down as she responded:

"he is very powerful"

"and you are no match for him?"

Reluctantly, and with a hint of jealousy number 28 replied "yes"

"excellent… I want you to get Audrey."

"Yes boss" they both saluted as they turned around and left the room.

_Let us see if you can defeat someone of Audrey's Caliber._

_Why did Jeves call me?_

_Of all the warriors he could have asked why me?_

_I thought he didn't trust me. No, he probably doesn't trust me. If he could ask some one else he probably would have. Either that, or he needs someone from the top 3. Since numbers 1 and 2 are busy off elsewhere. It looks like he is stuck with me._

_A_udrey made her way down a few lonely hallways approaching her destination. She had been told by two lower ranking warriors that Jeves wanted him to fight another one of his experiments. She hated doing these things…Whatever freak he conjured up was almost always a pushover…

W_ell except for Teresa…_ she thought

She turned a corner as she finally entered a much larger corridor with that giant iron gate towards the end she would often find herself passing through.

_I wonder what he would have me fight this time… Whatever it is, I hope it's not going to take too long. Rubel told me to meet him at dusk, which is approaching quickly._

As the gate guards saw Audrey walking calmly towards the gate, they began to open the massive doors. Slowly but surely the giant iron gates began to open grinding the rock underneath them.

Audrey walked though and gazed upon a lone man standing in the middle of the giant room holding a claymore in his right hand. He was quite a handsome young man with short brown hair, wearing only rags for clothes, and had a solid muscular build.

Audrey turned to face the distant platform above the room as she thought:

_What tricks do you have up your sleeves this time Jeves?_

Raki saw a lone Claymore enter the room as the gates behind her slowly shut. She had a very feminine appearance and long loose hair that covered most of her torso. Like almost every other claymore, she was a strikingly beautiful woman, with a face that a young man would kill for.

She walked towards him with a welcoming smile on her face, something Raki was not expecting. She stopped about five meters in front of him, placing her left hand on her chest and bowing down before Raki.

"Pleased to meet you. My name is Audrey and my number is three in the organization."

Raki felt a wave of fear clash with relief. He was afraid of her single digit status, but was relieved by her calm nature. He didn't know how to respond to a warrior who was so polite.

"Hello, um…" Raki stuttered.

Audrey stared at him, still smiling and patiently waiting for him to continue.

"My name is Raki and it is a pleasure to meet you too"

W_hat is this Jeves? You want me to fight this polite young man? Sure he might be tough for a human, but against some one like me? I don't want to hurt this boy..._

Raki couldn't help but wonder why Audrey seemed so blissful and calm. There was something about her that made him feel at ease, as if he was welcome. But at the same time he was also expecting her to turn into a monster and suddenly attack without any warning.

"Hey can I ask you a question?" Raki asked, sounding unsure if she would answer.

"Please go ahead"

"I was just wondering if you've heard of a former warrior named Clare, she used to be number forty seven."

_Clare... now where have I heard of that name before? It seems familiar._

"I am sorry, but I do not believe I have heard of a warrior by that name"

Raki's facial expression changed from hope to sadness. He asked so many warriors that very question, and every single time they gave him the same answer. A smile returned to his face as he remembered the promise he made with Clare seven years ago. The promise that he knew Clare would never break, and he knew deep in his heart that she was alive.

"So they sent you to fight me?"

"That is correct, please forgive me, I am going to ask you to attack me now"

Raki held his sword tight as he prepared himself for a charge. He didn't know the ranks of the previous two warriors, but he was pretty sure they weren't in the top 9. He didn't think he could possibly defeat Audrey though.

Audrey gracefully pulled her claymore from its holster as Raki charged towards her.

_He's fast._

Raki landed blow after blow on Audrey who just stood there, barely moving her claymore. He still noticed that warm smile on her face as she deflected his blows.

_What is this? It's as if there is no force applied to stop my attacks… yet my blade stops before it can even hit her._

Raki finished his assault and took a step backward.

"I have to say you are very good" she noted.

"I have never seen anyone do that before, you're amazing" Raki noted.

"Please don't flatter me Raki, do not forget that I am your enemy"

"Oh right" he replied with a hint of sadness and realization.

"Was that the best you could do?" she asked

"Well, I suppose I wasn't going all out"

"Come at me with all your fighting ability"

"Ok if you say so" he replied sounding nervous.

Raki charged towards her swinging his claymore more rapidly than before. Audrey was forced to walk backwards as her gentle sword technique struggled to stop every blow.

_He is quite impressive, there are very few beings that can pass through my gentle sword… and for a mere man…. He is amazing….however._

Seeing an opening, Audrey kicked Raki in the chest, dropping his blade and meeting the hard stone floor as he fell through the air.

"Your attacks are devastating, but never give an opponent an opening"

Raki got to his feet as he held his chest tight. This warrior was really strong, probably the strongest he's ever seen. If she wanted to kill him she probably could. But Raki had many things to do before he died, and meeting Clare was definitely the most important.

All of a sudden a small object fell from the platform high above. Audrey turned to see that it was a piece of parchment. This was Jeves' way of communicating with her in situations like this. That parchment contained a note that told her what he ordered her to do.

This was an all too common sight, as Audrey walked towards the parchment and picked it up. _Please don't make me do something I don't want to Jeves… but knowing you… you probably will._

Audrey let out a sigh as she unrolled the piece of paper and read the words.

She was instructed to wound the boy lightly, and inspect the damage.

_What the hell is this Jeves? You want me to just scratch this boy?_

"What is it?" Raki plead still holding his chest with one arm.

"I'm sorry but I am instructed to cut you"

"Ok then, just don't make it deep"

"you allow a stranger to cut you?" Audrey asked confused.

"Well it's not like I can stop you" he responded with a hint of humor.

Audrey eyed him with her calm face as she began to lower it, facing the ground.

"How do you know I won't just kill you, and that I only lied about the cut?"

Raki never thought of that, he couldn't believe how naïve he was, but in a situation such as this, it wouldn't matter, he wasn't in control and figured that following orders is the safest bet.

"Well, I trust you" he uttered,

"You trust me?" She questioned sounding shocked and confused at the same time

"You clay…I mean warriors aren't monsters, you are just misunderstood"

Audrey couldn't believe what this human was saying. What on earth would make him say this? Did he know a claymore personally? She felt flattered and proud hearing those words. It felt great being acknowledged as a human, and not treated like she was a monster.

Raki held out his arm, preparing himself for her imminent attack. He stared at her with a joyful naïve smile.

Audrey walked towards him and lifted her sword above his arm.

"I will only scratch you, trust my words"

She struck Raki's arm inflicting a cut on the side. Red Blood dripped out but only for a moment. Audrey's eyes widened as she saw the blood return back to the wound as it sealed itself.

_What? How could this be? He cannot be an awakened being seeing as he has red blood…. But this regeneration is only possible with yoma powers…_

Raki seemed just as surprised as Audrey was. With his other arm, he proceeded to touch the area where the cut used to be, but only felt his soft unopened skin.

"What are you?" Audrey demanded, finally raising her usual calm voice.

"I don't know!" Raki whimpered still looking at his trembling arm.

"Well I suppose you wouldn't know, you are Jeves's experiment after all."

Facing away from Raki, she noticed another parchment falling from the platform above.

_I wish he would quit throwing those stupid parchments… _she thought to herself.

Sighing, she went over to pick it up, unrolled the piece of paper and read the words.

It instructed her to leave immediately.

"Well it looks like I have fulfilled my role, whatever that was" She remarked.

Raki couldn't stop trembling as a wave of confusion plagued his mind. He didn't know if he was still human, or if he was a claymore. He turned to Audrey as he nervously asked her:

"Do I have silver eyes?"

She turned to face him, looking at his troubled face. This was a stare of a man desperate to know the answer to his question. As if the answer was a matter of life or death.

"No, your eyes are not silver"

Raki wasn't sure whether to feel delighted or disappointed. Ever since he met Clare, he always wanted to be a Claymore. He wanted to protect her from the world, but there was a sense of relief as he realized he was still human, or so he thought.

"See you kid, I hope he's not to rough on you" she implied, letting out a gentle smile as she began to walk towards the giant iron gate that opened for her.

that chapter was a bit longer than usual.

next is a Rubel chapter!


	9. Chapter 9

Well here it is, the one and only chapter 9. I must say of all the chapters I have written so far, I am most proud of this one, and as you read through it, you will understand why.

Please review!

Enjoy.

_Who was that young man? Or more like what was he? He fought like a high ranking warrior, though he seemed only human. His strength and agility were on pair with mine._

_Impossible…_

_Whoever he was it doesn't matter. I have to concentrate on the plan._

Audrey paced through a dark and lonely hallway. The only lights visible came from the small torches conveniently placed on the sides that helped illuminate the darkness. The only sound heard was the noise of her own boots against the rocky floor and the distinct jingle of her amour's shoulder blades as the metal plates rattled against themselves.

Rubel told her to meet him at a specific corner in the endless maze of hallways that made up the organizations underground base. Audrey knew these hallways like she knew the back of her hand, so remembering the exact location of this 'meeting place' was no problem. She only hoped that Rubel's plan was not found out by the organization. If it was, then she would have to fight her way to Teresa and free her that way, and the chances of success would be greatly reduced.

Of course this could all be a trap she thought. A member of the organization cannot be trusted. She wasn't that naïve. But seeing how Rubel seemed so determined to free Teresa, she decided to simply go with his plan. Audrey knew that Rubel's intentions were not pure, and he was not freeing Teresa from the goodness of his heart. No, he only wanted to free her so she would escape and cause trouble for the organization. He was a traitor after all.

Audrey's nerves got the better of her as she was approaching the meeting place. She never went against the organization before, and she honestly didn't know why she cared so much for Teresa. She had witnessed hundreds of Jeves' experiments being tortured by him, but none of them impacted on her like Teresa did. She guessed it was because of the unfortunate situations Teresa went through, and the sudden change from being the strongest warrior, to barely having the strength to resist the weakest.

_I only hope she's not going to kill me when I free her._

Audrey turned right as she walked past the final hallway until she would eventually arrive at her destination. She hadn't met anyone along the way, which was rather surprising, she figured that this was probably Rubel's doing. As she reached the end of the hallway she saw a man in a dark suit and hat leaning against the wall.

"Why hello there Audrey" Rubel spoke calmly.

"Let's get this over with" Audrey added looking nervous.

"I would love to, but it appears there are some minor complications"

Audrey didn't like the sound of that. The last thing she needed was for the mission to be more complicated, and make her feel even more insecure.

"what kind of complications?" she mumbled.

Rubel didn't seem the least bit troubled, as he was still wearing that smirk on his face, so it couldn't be that bad.

"Jeves had stationed two warriors with me, they are guarding Teresa as we speak now."

Audrey knew where this was going. Rubel probably wanted her to kill them herself. It was something she wasn't sure she was capable of doing. She wasn't even sure if she should continue with this crazy plan.

"understood" she replied sounding a bit more confident.

"excellent" he responded

"Just run through the plan again please, I want to get this right."

Rubel looked at her with those mysterious eyes hidden behind his dark glasses as he sighed.

"Remember that I have the keys to her cellar. Your going to kill the two warriors stationed within the room, as I free Teresa... then she escapes. You are then going to damage your own amour to make it look like you were in a vicious fight, since you are a defensive warrior, the organization won't find it suspicious that you are unwounded, since you naturally heal quickly."

"But wouldn't Jeves wonder what I was doing in that room?"

Rubel paused for a second as he took a deep breath. He grabbed his hat and pulled it off his head exposing his scalp. He dusted off the hat and placed it back upon his head.

"Isn't it obvious?" he replied

"Oh… so your betting on Teresa killing…."

Rubel added "You are going to ask Teresa to Kill Jeves, although I doubt you have to tell her to do so. I'm confident she will do it herself."

He turned to face away from Audrey Smiling like a madman as he continued:

"That fool didn't even tell anyone that he resurrected Teresa… so with him out of the picture, no one within the organization will even know That Teresa of the Faint Smile has just escaped from their grasp yet again."

"…But I still don't understand why you needed me in this plan… the two warriors weren't supposed to be there in the first place" Audrey asked sounding confused.

"If you weren't there, I would be under greater suspicion. It would be odd that I survived whatever the organization thought was in there… our story will be that it was an experiment that broke out, wounding you, which gave me time to escape… Also, the organization might interview us individually…" As he said this, he pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and showed it to Audrey.

"If they ask you what the creature looks like, you will tell them that it looks like this."

Audrey gazed upon the hideous creature drawn on the parchment. It looked similar to a yoma but different in it's own distinct way.

"that's a good drawing, Rubel" Audrey noted with a hint of wit.

"thank you…" he responded smiling. "Now memorize the image so our description of it will match…Finally, if they ask you what you were doing there, you will tell them that you were stationed to guard it. They will believe you because I will tell them so, and also because they know you usually assist Jeves in his experiments"

Rubel turned around with his back facing Audrey.

"oh and one last thing… kill the warriors like a monster would…."

As Audrey tried to store every detail possible in her mind she couldn't help but remark at his genius… yet twisted mind.

_Making the organization think that a random experiment has escaped, killing two warriors and wounding me while Rubel escapes is genius… even if we are interviewed by the organization, our stories will perfectly match and we wont be under suspicion._

_I have to hand it to you Rubel, that Is quite an impressive plan. I think me might just pull this off._

Teresa sat silently with her back against the wall in a cold dark corner within her cell. The Cell had no windows, and only one large metal gate separating her from freedom. Her prison was surprisingly large, it seemed to have been created for the purpose of housing large yoma or other abominations. The room reeked of yoma guts and there were blood stains all over the cold stony walls that surrounded her.

_I wonder what Clare looks like…_

_Will I be able to recognize her face?..._

_Will she be able to recognize me?..._

_Will she still accept me in her life?..._

Tears began to fall from Teresa's silver eyes as she remembered that little girl she held so dear in her heart. That little girl who changed her life forever… That little girl who taught a monster like her what it was to love.

_Will she even forgive me for leaving her?_

…_Clare…_

The two Claymore warriors stood outside her cell softly mumbling to each other. One of them had attempted to talk to her a moment before but she ignored her words, as she sat silently in the shadows. Teresa had tried to escape of course, but the cell was unbreakable. Even if she released almost all her yoma powers and tried to break the bars, she would certainly only hurt herself.

_What has become of me…_

_Once the organizations proud number one… reduced to a prisoner in a madman's cellar…_

_Hmmm… what's this?_

Teresa felt the aura of Audrey approaching. Teresa's yoki sensing abilities were so sharp, that she could even tell a claymore's emotional state. A claymore constantly let's off yoki, of course unless they train themselves not to, but even then it is impossible to avoid even the smallest amounts from escaping their bodies. Teresa felt that Audrey was uneasy, and something was bothering her.

She turned to face the two warriors who finally felt Audrey's aura approaching too.

"What is she doing here?" one asked another.

"Jeves told us that it was only us two and Rubel" the other responded

"speaking of Rubel, didn't he say he would be back a while ago?"

"He said he was going for a toilet break"

"some toilet break" the other snorted.

A moment later, out of the shadows at the entrance of the dungeon, Rubel appeared With Audrey as they came down the narrow steps approaching the two warriors.

"Rubel…Jeves gave us specific orders not to allow her near Teresa without his authorization" one of the warriors claimed.

He ignored her words until he finally stopped in front of them. He pulled off his hat and coughed.

Audrey stood there looking as nervous as ever. She was waiting for the sign to strike as he dusted off his hat.

_Hurry up Rubel…_

He tried to place the hat back on his bald head but as planned, he deliberately dropped it distracting the two warriors for only a second.

_That's the sign!_

As fast as she could Audrey pulled out her claymore and plowed it upwards in an uppercut towards the nearest warrior. The huge blade met soft flesh as it effortlessly sliced the warrior in two, spraying blood and guts on her comrade. Before the other had time to react, Audrey pulled back her weapon and thrusted it towards her neck, separating her head from her shoulders.

"Excellent" Rubel smirked as both bodies fell to the floor gushing blood.

Audrey dropped her sword and ran towards Teresa's cell. She held the bars with both hands as she looked at the figure hiding in the shadows.

"Teresa I have come to free you!"

Rubel walked over to her cage as he pulled out a set of keys, jiggling them until he found the right one. He placed the key in the keyhole and with a slight twitch, unlocked the massive bolt. Audrey pulled the colossal door open waiting for Teresa to walk out.

Teresa stood up and gracefully began walking towards the two. As her body escaped the darkness, the light reflected off her beautiful golden hair, and revealed her gentle face wearing that famous faint smile.

"I hope your not expecting a thanks… Rubel." Teresa smirked.

"Is that how you treat some one that helped free you?" he chuckled with a grin.

"You make it sound like you freed me from the goodness of your heart" She replied.

Teresa turned to face Audrey who instead of looking nervous, seemed utterly relieved. She looked like she wanted to say something, but was searching for the right words. Finally finding the right words she spoke:

"Teresa… I know that your not the type who appreciates help…"

As Audrey spoke those words, she held out her hand towards Teresa, signaling that she sought after a handshake.

Smiling, Teresa gave her hand and gently shook hers.

"you were very brave to free me, I just hope that you understand the consequences."

"I do" she replied gloomily

With that, Teresa grabbed the nearest claymore from the floor and turned away from Audrey and Rubel as she began walking towards the entrance of the dungeon. Then all of a sudden she paused, and without looking back she softly uttered:

"…thanks"

_Dam that Teresa! my neck wound keeps opening…_

Jeves held his neck with his left hand in an attempt to stop the bleeding while trying to pour a chemical in a vial on his table. He was working in his laboratory when he felt the presence of some one behind him.

"Dae, I told you I don't have the data yet" he expressed without looking back.

He continued working with his equipment as he waited for the figure to leave his laboratory, but it continued to stand there.

"What part of no DATA don't you understand?" He hissed with a hint of frustration, paying full attention to his work.

Still sensing the presence of the figure, Jeves turned around and yelled:

"Answer me when I….."

Jeves was horror-struck to See Teresa standing right before him smiling. He began to shake from horror as he desperately looked around for any sign of help.

"Don't worry, it's only you and me" Teresa said calmly

"T…Teresa… what.. what are you doing o..ut…?: Jeves stuttered utterly horrified as he began to walk backwards, almost tripping over himself from fear.

As Jeves backed off, Teresa continued to walk forward, keeping her face and eyes fixed on to his own. Jeves remained speechless, staring deep into the abyss, deep into those silver eyes that seemed to peer right into his very soul. Those eyes played on every fear that was hidden deep within his being that were suddenly all released at once, plaguing his very consciousness, filling his mind with indescribable terror that radiated throughout his entire body.

As Jeves continued to back off, he found himself making contact with one of the walls in his laboratory. With this, he came to the realization that there was no where else to run, he began to sweat uncontrollably as his imminent fate was drawing near.

In the blink of an eye Teresa swung her claymore at blinding speed, dissipating both his arms as they made a trail of blood in the air. Jeves roared in agony as he collapsed on the floor, swiveling in a pool of his own blood. She watched the man struggle under her feet like the pathetic worm he was.

Teresa kicked him towards the middle of the room, as blood sprayed all over his laboratory. She calmly walked towards the screaming man and removed his legs in an instant using her blade with the same blinding speed.

Jeves remained on the floor whimpering as he squirmed without his limbs.

"Filth like you don't deserve to live" She noted serenely as she removed his head with her Claymore finally ending the mans torment.

_I've wanted to do that for a while now…_

_I miss being bad _She smiled mischievously.

Teresa noticed a Claymore mounted against the wall on the opposite side of the laboratory. Walking towards it, she noticed her distinct symbol and realized it was her own blade. Dropping her current blood soaked claymore, she pulled hers off the mount.

_I'm coming my darling Clare, I promise that I will never leave you again._

Please review!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 is up people.

Please review.

Enjoy.

The winds blew gently on the calm green lands as Teresa planted her boots within the soft soil as she marched off to the distance. She had already passed the arid, desert like environment the organization called home, and was delighted to see lush green grass as far as her eyes could see. The green plain lands had few trees and shrubs, instead they were full of small hills and river streams.

Back at the organization's headquarters, Teresa found a conveniently placed standard claymore suit, and a large brown cloak, both of which were almost certainly Rubel's doing.

_Rubel you're always full of surprises _she thought as she let out a smile.

Teresa would never admit it, but she actually is fond of the Warrior suits issued by the organization. They were remarkably flexible and very comfortable. They fit to the contours of the wearer's body almost perfectly, and she wouldn't feel herself if she didn't wear one.

She wanted to avoid the organizations warriors at all costs, and thanks to Rubel, the cloak would do this flawlessly. It did a perfect job of hiding her face and the large claymore sitting on her back. Her ability to suppress her yoki would also help a great deal. Seeing as she was dead for over 10 years, it wouldn't be wise to strut the lands thinking that she is undefeatable, as there very well could be someone who might be stronger by now. Her death by the hands of Priscilla taught her this very important lesson.

_I used to walk these lands proudly, acting as if I owned them, but now I am hiding as a mouse hides from its predators… how ironic... _She thought as she let out a light chuckle.

She stopped, lifting her head and closed her eyes as she embraced a strong breeze passing her. The breeze felt very soothing on her skin as it felt like it was cleansing her soul. It was a great feeling to be out doors again, being out in the magnificent lands with the sun shining on your skin and the wind playing with your hair was a feeling like no other.

As she immersed herself on the serenity of her environment, she felt a strange yoki signature off to the northwest. She opened her eyes and began to concentrate entirely on the signal.

_It's quite a strong one…_

Teresa smiled as she identified it as an awaken being. She knew that it was trying to hide its aura, but its efforts are useless against her. Awaken beings are especially effortless for her to detect, as they radiate yoki like no other. Even awaken beings that attempt to mask their yoki signatures are still easily detectable by Teresa.

_I might as well just have a look. _She thought to herself as she began to set foot towards the powerful aura.

In an attempt to learn more about the current situation of the organization and the great lands, Miria has decided to send small covert reconnaissance parties to observe the movement and actions of the organizations warriors. She knew that this was a great risk, however knowing your enemy and its assets is vital to effectively combat them.

The ghosts have been hiding from the organization for seven years, and much has changed within that time. It would be unwise to blindly attack an enemy they had little knowledge about.

Miria, Helen, Deneve and Tabitha left Rabona at dawn and travelled towards the Northeast. Miria had decided that heading directly towards the east was a bad idea, as that was like heading into the lion's den, while Northeast was still dangerous, it would most likely be safer. The organization would have a larger amount of warriors towards the east, and much less slightly towards the north. This would allow them to effectively avoid a confrontation.

"Miria I sense a powerful Yoki signature straight ahead" Informed Tabitha, eyeing off to the distance.

"Identify it" Miria ordered.

"It seems to be…. It's an awaken being"

"This is exactly what we don't need" remarked Deneve, bowing her head.

"Are you kidding? Lets go!" implied Helen

"Actually that might not be a bad idea" replied Miria.

The others looked at her strangely as she spoke her words, unsure of her motives.

Miria continued: "If I'm not mistaken, there is a rather large town off in that direction, and it seems that the awaken being is heading towards it."

"Yeah so?" questioned Helen.

"So, since it is heading towards the organizations territory, there is a chance that they have also detected it and they might send a few warriors to combat it."

"So you want to witness a fight between it and the originations warriors? " implied Tabitha.

"That is exactly what we are going to do. I would like to see what kind of warriors the organization has at its current disposal." Finished Miria.

The other three gave a nod as they began marching towards the Northeast, towards the town Miria spoke of.

"Hey has anyone seen Clare this morning? Ever since the four of us left the city, no one has seen her." Asked Helen

"I'm sure she's fine, it's Clare after all" replied Deneve.

Miria let out a sigh as she remembered seeing Clare leave the common room that very night. She could sense something was troubling her, and decided to secretly follow her outside. Miria watched Clare cry her heart out, anxiously calling Teresa's name. She had never seen Clare so distressed, so….sad. Clare was never one to show her emotions, and seeing her friend in such a vulnerable state, brought sadness to her heart.

Clare once told her the story of how she met Teresa. But she didn't realize just how much Teresa meant to her until last night. She must have meant the world to Clare, even though Teresa stayed with her for only a brief period of time.

Miria wished she could meet this Teresa, this warrior that changed Clare's life forever.

"The awaken being has stopped it's movement… I think it has arrived at the town" Tabitha remarked.

"Then we don't have much time, we must make haste" added Miria.

_Oh what a lovely town_ thought Teresa as she entered the front gates, cleverly evading the guards by disappearing into a crowd of people wearing her mysterious brown cloak.

The town was located next to a rather large cliff, and surrounded by large stonewalls. It was beaming with life, swarmed with busy people frantically running around the streets doing their business in the markets.

_Poor fools.. Completely oblivious to the monster that lurks with them…_

Teresa made her way past a crowd of people getting closer to the source of the powerful yoki. As she made her way past the hectic market place, she was offered many goods by salespeople but politely refused. She made sure that her hood was solidly attached to her head, to hide her silver eyes and golden hair so commonly associated with her kind.

Then all of a sudden she saw it.

She saw the monster that radiated the powerful bone chilling yoki. It took the appearance of a little girl in rags sitting on top of a building off in the distance.

_That's definitely it._

Teresa couldn't decide whether to kill it or leave it alone. She would never have cared about such things before she met Clare, but now… she felt sorry for these people.

She finally understood fear.

Teresa in her prime never understood that emotion. She never had to worry about being defeated or hurt, as she was the most powerful warrior ever known. She used her own strength selfishly and didn't stop to think once what other people felt. These humans could not kill a yoma, and they certainly could not kill an awaken being.

Over the many years that she was a warrior, there were very few moments she would consider were worth existing for. She only felt that her existence was meaningful when she met Clare.

Living for one's own life and the lives of others is the greatest happiness one can achieve.

Clare taught her that very important lesson.

and even though this lead to her downfall, Teresa doesn't regret it one bit. If she had stayed with the organization, she would have eventually been replaced and her existence would have been meaningless.

Teresa strode to a lone dark alley and jumped on the roof of the nearest building undetected. The monster still hadn't noticed her, as it eyed the passing people beneath its feet.

_I'm going to show you what a true monster is… the monster I used to be._

Miria, Helen, Deneve and Tabitha finally arrived at the town to the Northeast. They stood on the edge of the enormous cliff scanning the town below them for signs of the beast.

"Tabitha where is it?" Miria questioned, eyeing the town like a hawk.

Tabitha closed her eyes as she cleared her mind and tried to isolate the awaken's yoki from all other disturbances.

"I cannot locate it specifically, but it is close to one of the town buildings nearest to us." She replied, maintaining her concentration.

"Can you sense the presence of any of the organizations warriors?"

"Hold on" Tabitha requested as she scanned the area around the town.

Then nodding, she said sadly "no"

Miria closed her eyes and pondered their next course of action.

_Should I risk our lives to save this town?_

_If I do that and we succeed, will it be worth potentially exposing ourselves to the organization?_

_Can I live with myself if we leave the beast here?_

"Miria" Deneve snapped, interrupting her thought pattern.

Miria stopped thinking and turned to Deneve who stared at the town as if she noticed something interesting.

"Miria… look at that person in the brown cloak." She added

Immediately Miria turned to face the direction Deneve was pointing to. There, on top of a building stood the figure in the cloak.

It was approaching something.

Miria looked ahead of the figure, trying to see what it was heading towards and saw a little girl sitting on another rooftop.

"Tabitha, one of those two must be it" she noted pointing towards their direction.

Tabatha began to focus on the two figures and immediately, her facial expression changed to terror. She began to sweat as she felt the monstrous Yoki get even stronger as she pinpointed the direct source.

"M…Miria…" Tabitha stuttered.

"What is it?"

"That figure in the brown cloak… is heading towards…."

_Shit… _Miria thought as she gazed upon the figure approaching its imminent death.

"Is that guy crazy! What does he think he's doing?" Yelled Helen with a hint of desperation.

"How strong is this awaken being?" Asked Deneve turning to face Tabitha.

Tabitha's terrified face turned pale white as she replied, "it… is comparable to that of Rigardo we fought in the north…"

I_ don't know what to do…_ Thought Miria as she nervously watched the two figures getting closer to each other. While her group were frozen by fear.

Miria's heart skipped a beat as the figure removed the brown cloak and revealed her long wavy hair, wearing the standard grey warrior's suit with a claymore on her back.

"What? That's an organizations warrior?" snapped Helen sounding terribly surprised.

"Strange, I didn't sense her presence…" uttered Tabitha.

Miria watched as the awaken being finally noticed the warrior approach her. The monster seemed un-phased by the approaching warrior as she pulled out her claymore from her back holster.

The awaken suddenly morphed it's arm into hundreds of needle sharp spears as it rapidly extended it, towards the warrior. The ghosts lost track of the warrior as it was engulfed by a large dust cloud and debris from the building that was destroyed.

"We're going in to help!" Roared Miria as the townspeople began to panic, running for their lives.

As she was about to jump off the cliff, she noticed the warrior emerge from the dust cloud and cut off the awakens arm that was still attached to the building. The awaken made a deafening screech of pain as the warrior darted towards it's body at an incredible pace.

The monster began to morph into its true form. It changed into a large black humanoid figure that stood at least 5 meters high. It was tall and thin, and had thousands of needle sharp spikes sticking out from its body. The awaken barely had time to finish the transformation, as it used it's remaining arm as a shield to stop the warrior from advancing any closer.

The arm extended into a large shield-like object, which the warrior smashed into. The warrior had stabbed her claymore into the shield, which went through its flesh effortlessly, as the tip of the blade stopped mere inches away from its head.

The awaken tried to shake the warrior off as she forced her sword downwards, severing the creatures shield in two, causing the beast to lose balance and almost fall off the building it stood on.

The warrior charged towards the awakened and sliced off its left leg, immediately causing it to fall over as she finished the job by swinging her sword cleanly through it's neck finishing the fight.

The massive body collapsed on the roof, and rolled to the ground making a heavy 'thump' as it landed on the ground kicking up dust.

The warrior stood on the roof that looked like it was going to collapse at any moment, shacking the blood off her blade as she placed it back on her holster.

The four Ghosts were horror-struck as they saw that single warrior take down that powerful awaken being with ease.

"W…We… n...need to get out of here now!" Miria yelled with sheer terror in her eyes as she began to tremble from fear.

_Well now that was fun_

Teresa looked around the town and saw no sign of any people around her.

_Oh well, what was I expecting?_

She walked to the edge of the crumbling roof as she fell to the ground with her heavy boots making contact with the hard pebble surface. Seeing her cloak lying on the floor, she proceeded to walk towards it and pick it up. As she was about to put it on and escape the scene, she noticed one lone man poke his head out from a corner as he began to clap.

Teresa's eyed widened in surprise as suddenly hundreds of people appeared and joined in. There was a monstrous thunder of claps and cheers as Teresa stood there in front of a large cheering crowd. There were even little children among the crowd who jumped for joy clapping their little hearts out as one man began to approach Teresa.

"Thank you lone warrior for saving us, we are ever grateful to you!"

As he said those words, the crowd generated another wave of applause and began to cheer loudly as the people began to approach her.

"You're a hero" the man said smiling as he grabbed her hand and led her through the crowd of people as Teresa looked astonished.

Teresa wasn't expecting this. She wasn't sure if this was even a good idea. She appreciated how the people thanked her in that town with Clare a long time ago, but this was overkill. The last thing she wanted was to become well known and reveal herself to the organization.

The man lead her to a large white building in the middle of the town with large royal looking doors, as she was being followed by a crowd of people who desperately tried to get close to their new hero.

The man led Teresa into the building as he attempted to close the door, pushing people from the crowd who desperately tried to march in.

In front of Teresa, there stood a man in an expensive-looking brown suit wearing a fancy hat.

"Is this the warrior?" the man in the suit asked the other grinning wildly

"This is our hero!" the man replied happily.

"I am the mayor of this humble town and I will grant you whatever it is you want for saving my town… miss?"

"Well… um…." Teresa uttered still coming to terms with the situation, as she struggled to get her words right.

"That's alright…if you wish to be unnamed I completely understand… so what is it you want! I will grant you anything!"

"Have you seen any strange warriors in this town? I'm looking for one named Clare" She spoke with a hint of hope.

"No, I'm sorry I haven't seen any strange warriors besides yourself, but I will make it up to you by granting you whatever you wish!"

"Well…I need to get going, and the only thing I ask for is enough money to stay in an inn for my travels"

The mayor looked at her astounded, as he began to laugh excitedly.

"Is that all?" he asked sounding confused "nonsense, you saved my entire town, you can have much much more!"

Letting out her faint smile she added: "I'm just pleased that I saved this town"

The mayor eyed her closely with an enormous beam on his face, realizing that she didn't want a reward for her heroic actions.

"Very well then… we will be forever grateful to you stranger, come back whenever you feel like it and we will grant you anything" he grinned.

"I appreciate it" Teresa responded.

Teresa left the city through the front gates as she wore her cloak, leaving behind her screaming fans that waved her goodbye.

_I never thought how much their acceptance really meant to me…_

She smiled happily from the realization of saving hundreds of lives. That her actions had led to the safety and happiness of others. This was something that was rather new to her, and something she thinks will stay with her forever.

She marched off to the distance bowing her head and closing her eyes as she recalled seeing those four mysterious figures standing on the edge of the Cliffside.

_They had a yoki aura about them….it was weak, but it was there. They headed towards the Southwest, so that is where I will be heading._


	11. Chapter 11

Ok to make the storyline clearer there are a few things readers must know.

1. Raki wasn't infected by the Luciela/Rafiela thing at his hometown. (My own version) he was infected in another random town.

2. Raki doesn't know that his hometown is now destroyed.

Yep that's about it.

Enjoy.

"So Jeves is dead?... most regrettable" Revealed Dae as his voice echoed off the walls of the large dome room while he sat comfortably in his chair.

Rubel and Audrey were summoned to the dark, gloomy council chambers to stand before the highest-ranking organization members. The men sat on stone chairs in front of them eying them closely.

As Teresa left the organization, Rubel made sure that all possible evidence leading to them, or to Teresa was erased. This included making sure the bodies of the two warriors were ripped apart and disposing of the bloody claymore Teresa used to slay Jeves. Rubel's plan had worked perfectly, with even the highest-ranking organization members remaining unsuspicious.

"What will happen to the boy now that Jeves has been killed?" asked one of the dark figures hidden in the shadow sitting on the far end of the room.

Dae turned to face the man for a second with a lazy look on his face, then returned to face the two standing before him.

"That boy truly is a magnificent specimen… it is just his luck that Jeves has departed." Remarked Dae.

He turned to face Audrey as he stared deep into her eyes wearing that fake smile he would often beam.

"Tell me number three, since you have spoken to the boy, do you think that he is controllable?"

"In my opinion he is" replied Audrey.

"Oh and why is that?" The figure sitting on Dae's left questioned.

"He didn't seem like a monster"

"And neither do you" Another figure hissed coldly.

A moment of silence passed as the council members began whispering things to each other's ears. Dae just sat there, in the middle of all of them staring at Audrey and looking like he was pondering something deep.

Finally breaking the silence, Dae spoke: " Jeves was a valuable asset to this organization… however his methods I found to be… cumbersome…"

Dae turned to Rubel who stood there with his usual smirk, wearing that unique black hat, suit and infamous glasses.

"Rubel, you are one of our most trusted associates… I would like you to replace Jeves and take care of the boy"

Rubel replied: "I would be honored to, however I do not believe I have even met him"

"That can easily be arranged" Dae replied.

"If I may, I would like to make a recommendation" Rubel plead.

"So be it" one of the other men responded.

"I say that we should let the boy experience yoma in real situations"

"What!" Barked a half a dozen council members.

"Let him continue" Dae said as he eyed Rubel closely.

"Let him travel with another warrior like Audrey to slay yoma in towns, I believe that when he sees that we save people from yoma, he will immediately sign up himself…. A kind of trial run for a claymore."

"But you haven't even seen the boy's abilities!" a council member yelled.

Rubel turned to Audrey as he continued:

"But with somebody like Audrey, he cannot get away. What good would he do us just sitting in a cell?"

Dae sat back on his chair and wondered on what Rubel had just said.

_I suppose that does make sense. The boy is young and he can easily dispatch yoma, and from what I've heard he couldn't defeat Number three. Letting him go with her on missions might actually be a good idea._

"Dae this is an outrage! We cannot afford to let such a specimen out of our reach!" the man to Dae's right scolded.

"It's too much of a risk!" another added.

"Very well Rubel, I trust that you would be in charge of the collection of the money?" Dae asked sounding excited.

"of course" he replied grinning wildly.

"Dae you have lost your mind, I think you have been in power for too long!"

Dae ignored the man as he continued to stare at the two.

"There is a town to the Southwest called Amberdy about 8 hours on foot, they have asked for our help. Number three and the subject will travel there. We will give Rubel further orders to pass on once they arrive there."

A few of the council members began to grumble among themselves as they heard Dae's words, clearly unhappy by what he said.

"you are dismissed"

"So it looks like I'm your caretaker Audrey" Rubel smiled as the two began walking towards Raki's cell, passing through a dark hallway.

"what was that about Rubel?" Remarked Audrey who didn't even turn to face him.

"what? I'm just telling them my… recommendations" he replied mischievously.

"you don't plan on us returning…."

Rubel let out a grin as he faced away from Audrey.

"oh common Audrey you know i wouldn't do that to you!" he answered with a hint of wit.

"don't give me that crap" she replied turning a cold shoulder to him.

The two entered a similar looking dungeon to Teresa's as they began to walk down the stone steps, and entered into the darkness below. The dungeon was much smaller than Teresa's though, and only contained four cells, each with thinner iron bars.

Audrey looked into the first cell to her left but saw that it was empty. There wasn't much in the cell at all, in fact there was nothing. It was just a plain dark room with cold rocky walls encased with iron bars. She walked towards the next cell and saw nothing once again.

Then she turned to her right and saw that young man leaning against the side of a wall within his cell. She walked towards the iron bars separating him from her and looked straight at him. He appeared to be asleep as he lay against the wall, wrapping his hands around his knees.

"Raki" Audrey called breaking the dead silence.

Raki suddenly lifted his head and turned to face the direction of the familiar voice he just heard. There stood that polite longhaired warrior on the other side of the bars looking straight at him, and a mysterious man in black standing next to her.

"so this is him?" Rubel smirked.

Raki rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Realizing he wasn't, he stood up and walked towards the iron bars.

"Hey what are you doing here?"

"Raki you are coming with me to the south to slay yoma in a town"

"umm ok…" he responded sounding unconfident.

Rubel eyed this man very closely. He thought that he seen his face somewhere. He seemed very familiar to him.

"We're going to open the door now Raki…please don't attempt to run as I would have to stop you"

"don't worry I wont" he replied.

Rubel pulled out a set of keys and placed the correct key within the keyhole. He twisted the key and unlocked the bolt, sliding it open.

"Let us go Raki, we should arrive there by dusk." Audrey spoke calmly.

Audrey and Raki didn't say a word to each other for an entire hour as they marched towards the town to the Southwest. Raki had thought about escaping, but every time he glanced at Audrey he realized that it was futile. She would probably catch up to him and remove his head, or worst. Raki would notice that Audrey would occasionally glance at him, watching him closely to see any potential signs that he would escape, but he gave her none.

They tended to avoid set paths and chose more discrete areas in order to avoid humans as much as possible. Claymores usually didn't enjoy human company, mainly because humans looked down on them but there was also that strange sentiment of not feeling like they belong.

They left the harsh desert like environment of the organization a while ago, and started seeing a few lush green trees and some traces of grass.

"You look good in Warrior's armour Raki, I'm glad they still kept a male version of it " she smiled with a hint of humor.

Raki was surprised to hear her say those words. Especially after one hour of silence. He figured that the reason she was so silent was because she didn't like him or just preferred to be left alone.

"thanks…" he replied

"um.. Audrey… can I ask you a question?"

"go ahead" she replied smiling

"why exactly did the organization allow me to go with you?"

Audrey slowed her pace to align herself with him. She looked at his confused face as she replied smiling:

"It was Rubel's doing"

"was it that guy in the black suit at the dungeon?"

"yes"

_I remember seeing him somewhere before. His face… seems so familiar. It was probably so long ago I can barely remember…_

"I just wish I can meet Clare again…."

"did you say Clare?"

_Teresa also spoke of a Clare… I wonder if it's the same person…_

"Oh no its nothing… never mind!" he began to blush cursing himself that he thought out loudly.

Audrey gave him an odd stare as he tried to face away from her, in an attempt to cover his blunder that left him red-faced.

"Raki, how did you become so skilled with a blade?"

"well um… it was a friend from the north, he used to be a… um.. a master swordsman." He replied nervously.

"what was his name?" she asked curiously.

"err… you know… I forgot" he replied sounding unconvincing.

"doesn't sound like he was a good friend if you cant remember his name"

"I guess…"

She turned her face to his and let out a warm smile.

"I like you Raki, you're a good guy"

_She likes me? _Raki thought as he let out a blush.

"There it is Raki, the town of Amberdy"

As they crossed a large hill, Raki could see a small town off to the distance. The town reminded him of his old hometown which he visited about two weeks ago. He told the townspeople to inform Clare that he was alive should she ever visit.

_I hope that you got the message Clare…_

Raki suddenly heard the sound of the villagers screaming in terror. All five of his senses have sharpened incredibly ever since he was infected by those strange organic poles. They changed his body and made him able to hear even the faintest of sounds.

He frantically turned to face Audrey as she quickly admitted "I heard it too"

"We must hurry to save them!" Raki yelled desperately.

"why? Its only our job, it doesn't matter how many of them die"

"How could you say that!" Raki Barked as he darted towards the village at blinding speed.

"WAIT! COME BACK HERE!" Audrey yelled behind him as his boot's kicked dust in her face.

_Dam it Raki, now I have to follow you…. Wait up…._

Audrey followed Raki's lead as he bolted towards the Town.

Raki suddenly stopped his incredible acceleration sliding against the gravel until he stopped to a halt. He frantically tried to find the yoma that he knew was near. He didn't know how or why, but he felt the presence of the yoma. The townspeople all began to run towards him, almost trampling him as the wave of people passed him.

Then he saw it. It stood next to the village well holding a man by his head, surrounded by dead villagers as is walked in a pool of blood.

"HELP ME!" the man desperately yelled out as Raki thought about his next move. He wasn't sure if he was fast enough to make it to the yoma and cleave off its arm before it killed the man.

But he had to try.

Without a second thought, Raki charged towards the yoma as fast as he could and just managed to slice off it's arm in time as he collided with the side of a building almost destroying the wall completely.

"ARRGG!" the yoma yelled in pain as it saw its right arm fly through the air.

Raki kicked himself off the wall and ran his blade through the yoma's torso spraying purple blood everywhere. The blade easily pierced the soft flesh of the yoma as it swiped its remaining left arm towards Raki, landing a deep dent on his left shoulder pad. Raki forced the claymore towards the side, ripping through its flesh and separating the Yoma in two.

"Bravo" Audrey lightly cheered behind him as she clapped her hands smiling proudly.

"WATCH OUT!" Raki yelled as he saw a yoma run behind Audrey as it began to swipe it's powerful arms towards her back. Audrey stood there calmly and continued to smile as a seemingly invisible blade stopped the Yoma's attacks. The yoma attacked in rapid succession, but all it's attacks were being stopped as if there was an invisible shield behind Audrey's back.

_Oh I get it…that must be the same thing she used against me back at the organization…_

"Bitch! Why can't I kill you!" the yoma yelled in its deep voice as it tried to desperately attack from different directions.

Audrey then swiftly sliced it's head off without any warning as it's body coldly met the ground, using her large claymore as a shield to protect her body from the spray of purple blood.

Audrey turned to face Raki as she began pointing towards his direction.

W_hy is she pointing at me? Oh wait… she's not pointing at me… she's pointing behind me!_

_R_aki turned around to see another Yoma jump off the roof in front of him as it flew through the air towards him. Raki knelt down and thrusted himself towards the sky holding his claymore in front of him, as he sliced the Yoma into two pieces in mid air.

_He's pretty good I must admit, he could easily be a single digit in the near future…_

Raki landed on the floor as he noticed a group of Yoma charge towards him.

"aren't you going to help me!" he plead to Audrey as she began to calmly walk off yawning.

"no, I think they want you" she replied.

"WHAT!"

Raki dodged the first yoma by hastily pacing to his left and plowing his claymore towards another two slicing both of them in half. He then kicked the yoma that he dodged with such force that it destroyed the wall of the building it collided with.

_THERES MORE!_

four more yoma charged at him as he began to run towards them. He jumped over them, swinging his claymore beneath his feat as it met with the skull of one and immediately killing it.

As he landed, he turned around to evade the attack of another as he rammed his elbow into it's back, breaking it's bones as it collapsed on the floor grouching.

The other two darted at him simultaneously, and Raki was only quick enough to avoid one of them, as the other one managed to struck his right arm with it's claws, making him drop his claymore as it began to gush out blood.

_Damn it he got me…._

Without a thought, Raki rammed his knee into the yoma and grabbed its arm with his left hand as he swung it towards the other with all his might. The two yoma violently landed on top of each other as they harshly met the ground.

Immediately Raki sprinted towards his blade, sliding on the ground and picking it up with his left hand.

The Two Yoma got to their feet and ran towards him furiously. He swung his claymore in an uppercut, severing one apart while the other one started to panic and desperately tried to get away.

Raki threw his weapon towards the Yoma, piercing its body and pinning it to the side of the closest building.

"Bastard…." It grumbled as the light gradually left its eyes.

Raki let out a sigh of relief and held his wounded arm tightly as he furiously turned to face Audrey who sat calmly on the side of the well staring at her nails:

"Hey what was that about!" He Barked.

"oh common, these guys are barely any fun for me… besides you can easily take them on…" she replied calmly.

Raki felt his right arm start to heal up as the muscles began regenerating themselves.

"see… you weren't even really wounded" she chuckled

Raki looked at her astonished, totally not registering that as a joke.


	12. Chapter 12

Here we go, chapter 12.

Enjoy people.

Please review.

_This isn't funny… I didn't know the organization has such powerful warriors…_

Miria, Deneve, Helen and Tabitha are frantically making their way back to Rabona after witnessing an unknown warrior destroy a powerful awaken being before their very eyes. Miria was moving at a pace that her party struggled to keep up with, while only having one thing on her mind...to get as far away from that warrior as possible.

_I don't think she saw us… she couldn't have sensed our presence… not even Galatea would have sensed us from that far away…_

_How is this possible?_

_Could that have been… Alicia?_

_No, I couldn't see Beth…_

_But then again… we couldn't sense her yoki, so Beth may very well have been there and we wouldn't have even known._

"Hey Miria" Helen called as she breathed frantically, clearly tired from the running.

_She barely even use her yoki to slay that Awaken being… there is just no way someone could be so powerful…_

_This is way out of our hands… how could we possibly go against something so powerful?_

"Hey Miria can you hear me?" Helen added sounding frustrated, as a drop of sweat fell from her chin.

"Y..yeah… what is it Helen?" she stuttered.

"Can we slow down a little, I'm struggling to keep up"

"NO!" she snapped.

The others all looked at each other, lost for words. They have never seen their captain like this. Miria was always a calm big thinking strategist. but now, she seemed reckless, as if her emotions have gotten the better of her. The others started to feel uneasy about their captain shaking in her boots.

"we cannot risk stopping and being found by that warrior" she noted.

Helen looked like she was going to add something further but Deneve gave her a harsh look which immediately told her not to.

The four didn't say a word to each other for many hours as they finally saw the city of Rabona off to the distance.

Teresa walked along a set pathway through a forest towards the Southwest. She took a deep breath of the refreshing air purified by the green wavy trees surrounding her. The wind blew gently on her skin, as it was mostly stopped by the dense trees of the forest. She walked for many hours following this same set path she started from the town before. A moment ago, she passed a traveler, who didn't seem to mind that the likes of her was walking past him, but that was probably due to the cloak that she wore.

_Still, it is a nice feeling not to be feared…_ she smiled.

As she continued to walk on the set path, she noticed a sign off to the distance. When she finally got close enough to read the words it informed her that a town was near.

_That's good… it's getting dark…_

Night set as she entered the small town trying to locate an inn. The town was more like a little village hidden in the dense forest. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea for a village to be built in such a place, but she figured there must have been some reason.

Teresa finally located the inn and opened the wooden door. There stood a man who looked like an innkeeper behind a counter talking to another man who seemed to be a customer. The hotel was a pretty pathetic one, not very clean and had a single chair in the lobby for customer's to sit on, but it was broken. There seemed to also be a small bar towards the end of the room, which was void of any customers.

For most of her life, Teresa saw herself as a monster that didn't even deserve to have the luxury of sleeping in a bed. She only existed as a tool, a mere object to be used by the organization, one that had no freedom and one who's life had no value.

She never used to have any self-respect for herself. She would even let lustful men violate her because she felt that she had no dignity to defend.

She convinced herself that dignity was something reserved for humans… and not monsters.

On the outside she appeared to be a proud and powerful warrior, but on the inside, hidden behind that smile was the sad truth. She was constantly in pain… constantly living in misery. Her soul was longing for the recognition and acceptance of others, and her heart desperately craved to be loved. She was living a miserable lonely existence, and only now does she realize how weak she really was.

Clare was the one who gave her what she needed the most.

A friend.

Teresa walked towards the counter hearing the two men argue over something. None of them even noticed that the most powerful warrior that has ever lived has just walked straight into the lobby….

_Now this is something I'm not used to…_ she smiled, as the two men continued to ignore her and argue with each other.

Wherever she went people feared her…

She was feared by humans for being a monster…

She was feared by her very kind for being a monster among monsters…

She was even feared by the organization that employed her…

But the truth is that she wasn't a monster. She only convinced herself that she was.

The man grabbed the innkeeper by the shirt as he violently pulled the man towards him.

"Give me a room or I'll bloody smash your skull in!" he barked.

"Hey let go of me" the other man whimpered submissively.

The innkeeper was a much smaller man than the other. His face was frozen in fear as the stranger stared into his eyes holding him so tight, his shirt began to rip.

"is there a problem?" Teresa asked hiding her silver eyes in the shadows of her hood.

"mind your own business!" the aggressive man yelled.

"I would appreciate it if you leave" Teresa calmly responded.

The man let go of the innkeeper and began walking towards Teresa confidently.

"and what if I don't?" he asked mockingly.

"I don't want to fight you"

"I'm sure you don't pretty lady" he smirked as he noticed streaks of blond hair within the hood.

"I will ask you one more time to leave"

"Let me have a better look at your pretty face" he hissed coldly as he approached Teresa attempting to touch her face with his right hand.

"don't touch me" she warmed as she stood her ground.

"oh come on baby, don't be like that"

Teresa instantly grabbed his hand and began to squeeze it with bone crushing force as he let out a scream of pain, falling to his knees.

"I told you not to touch me"

"Let go of me you bitch!" he scolded

"The human hand is a fragile thing… so easy to break…." She noted calmly.

"please… let go! I swear I'll go!" he whimpered from the pain, as his hand was mere inches from breaking.

As Teresa let go of her grip, the man made a massive sigh of relief as he held his trembling hand. He slowly got to his knees and ran out the door to the relief of the innkeeper.

"Thank you lady, if it wasn't for you, I'm not sure what I would have done"

"I suggest you hire security, I wont be here the next time someone like that shows up"

"yes.. of course, my wife has been telling me to do that all year, I suppose it is time to do so… would you like a room young miss?"

"yes" Teresa replied.

"I wont charge you anything as a token of my thanks" He said happily.

"that won't be necessary, you need this money more than me"

He stared at her looking surprised, then he let out a smile as he replied:

"If you say so"

Teresa pulled out a small linen sack given to her by the previous village and opened it. She spilled out a handful of coins and placed them on the wooden table.

"That's a little much miss" the innkeeper informed.

"Keep the change"

"Well ok… you can have room five, just down the corridor behind you, third on your right." He said as he handed her a set of keys.

"Thank you" she replied grabbing the keys.

Teresa walked through the small corridor passing two doors until she saw the one with the number '5' sign. Using the key she was given, she unlocked the door and walked inside. Teresa was pleased to see a small but cozy room. It contained a comfortable looking bed with white sheets, a cupboard and a small table. She walked in and threw her cloak on the table, and placed her claymore against the wall as she collapsed on her bed.

As Teresa lay there in her grey suit, she closed her eyes and tried to remember every single moment she had with Clare. Those memories were the most precious ones she ever had, and she would do anything to go back to them. Teresa loved Clare with all her heart and it pained her to be separated from that little child.

_But now she is all grown up…_

Teresa felt tears develop in her eyes as she quietly sobbed herself to sleep.

Miria stormed into the Ghost's hideout while violently slamming open the wooden door upon exiting the spiral staircase. Cynthia almost fell of her chair upon hearing the sudden noise, as she turned to face the source of it. She was surprised to see Miria and her party return so early.

Their faces looked pale white, as they struggled to catch their breath. Helen collapsed on the nearest chair, Deneve against the nearest wall, and Tabitha on the ground while Miria stood near the door eyeing Cynthia with a look of seriousness and fear.

"M…Miria why are you back so early?" She stuttered looking shocked.

"Cynthia where is everyone?" she ordered sounding harsher than her usual self.

"well, it's late and I'm sure every one else is asleep… what is it Miria, did something happen?" she asked cautiously noticing the clear distress she was in.

"Assemble everyone here!" she harshly commanded sitting on a chair next to Helen, sweating from exhaustion.

After a moment of hesitation, Cynthia got to her feet and paced towards the common room in search for her comrades. Her face changed from being surprised, to being worried in an instant.

Miria leant her head on the wooden table as she brought her mind back to that Cliffside.

_If that was Alicia, then we truly have a problem on our hands…_

_What am I going to tell everyone?_

_That we are out of our league?_

_That we should just give up?_

_No…._

_I must be strong for everyone, I must continue my leadership, otherwise everything will fail._

The rest of her party looked like they were struggling to remain conscious after their running spree, and Miria only now realized how hard she pushed them. However it was something she knew she had to do. If that unknown warrior saw them and decided to chase them, they would most likely have been killed.

Miria heard the sound of the others entering the room as she began to lift her head to face them.

Cynthia, Galatea, Clare, Uma, Clarice and Miata stood in front of her, eying their captain closely. Miria's original plan was for only four of them to scout the lands for a few weeks, while the rest remained in Rabona to continue training. They seemed surprised to see the party back so early, which was understandable seeing as Miria told them she'll be back in a few weeks so she would decide on the next group to scout.

Miria put on a brave face as she rose from her chair, with her hands planted firmly against the table.

"I have underestimated the power of the organization…"

The other's remained dead silent as they heard those words from their captain. They knew that whatever shook Miria up to this extent must have been something important.

Breaking the silence, Miria added. "I believe that we have seen Alicia…"

"Was her armour black? And did she have long straight hair?" Galatea asked as she braced herself for the worst.

"n…no" Miria responded sounding surprised.

"Then it wasn't Alicia, I have seen her before"

"It was strange…" Miria continued, "she wasn't wearing the full combat armour, just the grey suit underneath… But she clearly was a warrior of the organization as she had a claymore and long wavy hair."

_Long wavy hair…. _Thought Clare.

"Is there a problem Clare?" Miria asked her, as she noticed Clare thinking deeply to herself.

"No…it's nothing" she replied.

_I cant believe that just hearing the words 'long wavy hair' made me think of Teresa…_

Teresa woke late at night to the sound of strange footsteps outside of her room. She opened her eyes and turned to face the door as she lay on her bed.

_Hmm what does he want?_

Suddenly, her door was violently knocked down, making a loud thud as it hit the floor. There stood the man who she asked to leave earlier. He stood there with two other men behind him as they rudely made their way in the room with evil smirks on their faces.

"Remember me you bitch?" he hissed.

"Oh, how could I forget that ugly face of yours…" she replied as she continued to lie in her bed.

"Bitch…. You'll regret…."

He froze in astonishment as he noticed a pair of silver eyes staring into his own.

"C…claymore!" one of the men behind him stuttered, looking horrified.

"Victor you didn't tell us she was a silver eyed witch!" the other yelled sounding petrified.

Victor stood eyeing Teresa while the other men began to back off. He let out a grin as he coldly spoke.

"I don't care if she's a silver eyed witch… we're going to do her right here and now, and show her never to mess with me again."

Teresa let out a slight smile as she spoke "Oh, so that's what you boys want?"

"Yeah… that's what we want" one of the men replied as his face turned from fear to excitement.

"I'm sorry but I must say no" She replied.

"Oh this isn't up to you…claymore" Victor beamed with a grin as he began to approach her.

"Let's rip off that suit of hers so we can see more of that gorgeous body…" the man on Victor's left suggested, grinning lustfully as he eyed Teresa laying on her bed.

"So… do you want to be on top or bottom?" Victor joked wickedly "me… I personally like my women on top"

_How pathetic… _thought Teresa.

Teresa sat up on her bed, watching the three men walk ever closer.

"So you want to know what my body feels like huh?" Teresa asked.

"Oh yeah…." One of the men replied

"Well I will be kind enough to grant you that wish then" she smirked.

Teresa stood up from her bed calmly as she began to clench her right hand in a fist. In a flash, she darted towards the man on Victor's left and planted her fist in his gut with such force, that he flew through the air and landed on the cupboard totally destroying it as he spat out blood.

"Bitch!" Victor barked as he threw punches towards her. She gracefully evaded his attacks with ease as she slid passed him landing a similar blow to the other man. The man plowed towards the wooden wall with a loud thud as he fell to the ground dazed.

Victor's face turned to horror as he just witnessed his friends being demolished in front of him. He frantically made a dash towards the door, but Teresa grabbed his arm and swung him back in the room, landing back-first against her bed.

She immediately jumped on top of him, with her knee on his chest, holding his neck against the bed tightly with her right arm. Victor struggled with all his might to escape but couldn't overpower Teresa, couldn't escape the monstrous grip she had on his neck.

Teresa continued to beam her faint smile as she held Victor down tightly. Before she met Clare, there was only one thing she enjoyed doing. She enjoyed seeing the suffering and pain of humans. She was so miserable back then, so heartbroken that it was difficult for her to watch humans live their happy lives, while she continued to suffer from her own lonely existence. She would purposely scare them in an attempt to make herself feel better. She thought she would no longer enjoy it, but there was that little Teresa inside of her that enjoyed seeing this man suffer by her hands.

_After all… he deserves it._

"I recall you saying that you like a woman on top?" She calmly spoke as Victor continued to struggle futilely under her making choking sounds as he struggled to breathe.

"What's wrong?… aren't you enjoying this? Isn't this what you wanted?" she said sadistically, bringing her face close to his.

"I don't know about you, but I enjoyed this, we should do this next time…." She uttered calmly in his ear. "Although I must warn you, I won't be so gentle next time"

Victor felt the blood flood back into his head as Teresa jumped off him, finally letting go of his neck. He frantically gasped for air as he fell off the bed, landing on the wooden floor next to Teresa's feet.

"Take your men with you" she ordered as she stood there with her arms crossed eyeing him closely.

Victor tried to get up as fast as he could, but almost tripped over himself as the entire room became a blur. Teresa held his neck so tightly that his brain was deprived from oxygen and he felt like he was going to collapse to the floor from the sheer confusion.

"Here… I'll even help you and your men out" she grunted, as she noticed he could barely stand on his own.

Teresa landed a kick on Victors back, knocking him out of the room as he collided against the wall in the lobby. She walked over to the two men, picked them up and threw them on top of him.


	13. Chapter 13

Here we go, chapter 13 people.

Please review.

Enjoy.

Teresa woke to the gentle, calming sound of nature flooding her small room. She heard the birds tweeting and the wind gently rustling the leaves of trees as she opened her eyes to see the sun's brilliant rays illuminate the entire room, reflecting off the wooden surface as it brought a gentle warmness on her skin.

Teresa remembered those four mysterious figures standing on that Cliffside, as they headed towards the Southwest. She would have chased them, but not even she could have caught up to them from that far away.

_I wonder if they are a connection to Clare. I have no other leads, so I may as well keep heading Southwest… or… was Clare one of them?_ She thought as she felt herself getting excited as a warm smile beamed on her face.

Teresa threw the white blanket off her body as she sat on the side of the bed. She wanted to wake as early as possible, but to her surprise it was rather late for her standards. The sun shown brilliantly strong, as it was high up in the sky. She doesn't remember a time in her life that she woke up so late. But it seemed that her body was more exhausted last night than she previously believed, demanding more sleep than usual and those three thugs last night certainly didn't help.

Teresa rubbed her eyes as she put on her pair of boots she placed against her bed the night before. She saw the cupboard totally destroyed and one the walls damaged. She couldn't help but think that there are many victims out there who cannot defend themselves as easily as she could.

Teresa walked over to her claymore, placed it on the holster in her back and then grabbed her cloak as she wrapped it around her body. The last thing she wanted was for people to be frightened of her, she actually liked to feel recognized… even if they are fooled into thinking that she is human.

Teresa picked up the broken door and placed it against the wall as she walked out to the lobby. The innkeeper gave her a worried look as he saw her approach him.

"Miss… I heard some strange noises last night, is everything all right?"

"Yes everything is fine, however you will find that there is some damage to the room. The money I gave you should more than cover for the damages." She smiled gently.

The innkeeper wanted to ask the mysterious young lady in the cloak what happened, but brought himself not to. It was not his business and she obviously didn't want to talk about it either.

"Would you like your breakfast now?" he asked her kindly.

"Just give me some bread and I'll be on my way"

"Just bread? Are you sure?" he asked giving her a confused look.

"I'm not very hungry"

The man walked to a small room behind the counter and returned with a loaf of bread in his hands.

"Here you go miss"

"Thank you for the room" she replied

"Stay safe" the man waved to Teresa as she began to walk out of the hotel.

Teresa stopped at the door and turned her head to face the innkeeper. "Oh and don't forget about security, there should be enough for that too" She added.

"thank you young lady" he replied.

_Young lady?… I'm flattered._

Teresa continued to follow the same pathway she was following yesterday before she stopped to rest in this small town. She only walked for a few minutes before she exited the small town and once again entered the forest to continue her journey towards the Southwest as she approached the western lands.

_If I remember correctly, I should be approaching the city of Rabona soon. Is that where the mysterious figures ran off to? It sounds doubtful, but if they found a way to enter unnoticed, it would be the perfect hideout._

The ghosts made their way south of Rabona towards their secret training facility hidden between two hills. Miria had made them wake extra early, probably due to her paranoia about this new strange warrior. She clearly told them last night that there was just no way they could topple to organization when they have that kind of power at their disposal. She said that it would take many years of training before they become strong enough.

Miria explained exactly what happened, and briefly described the warrior. Clare thought that this was strange…if indeed this was a warrior of the organization, how could she be so powerful? Even after the seven years of training they had in the north, the organization still managed to be one step ahead of them.

Clare couldn't care less about this new warrior though. Even though Miria obviously feared her, Clare didn't. There were always warriors coming and going from the organization, and she figured the new warrior would probably meet her demise soon.

Finally the two hills were in sight, as the ghosts got ever closer. The facility was seemed too perfect. Two large hills covered each side, and the land in between the hills was below sea level, so it acted like a giant trench. The outside of the facility was covered in thick trees and bushes, while the inside was an oasis full of fresh green grass and a small lake. The thick trees on the outside prevented anyone from even knowing of the inside.

As the ghosts made their way through the thick jungle of trees, they finally entered the interior of the hideout. The place looked like it was untouched by anyone, besides a few scratches on trees and some marks they left in the soil. The interior was so enormous, it would probably take an half an hour to walk from one side to another.

"Ok, so who's ready to get their butt kicked?" Helen joked as she pulled her claymore from its holster.

Miria turned to face her squad as she began to speak:

"We will spend most of our days here training. Fight with whoever you want, just make sure you don't kill each other."

The rest of the ghosts began to spread out in small groups while Tabitha and Galatea stayed behind.

"Hey Galatea, don't you have a church to attend?" Tabitha questioned, turning to the blind warrior.

"It's my day off, besides Miria asked me to warn her if a warrior approaches this facility"

Tabitha replied "If Miria was referring to that warrior we saw yesterday it's useless, I could barely feel her yoki even when I focused directly at her"

Galatea remained silent, she knew that Tabitha was right. Even though Galatea was a little better at detecting yoki, the difference wasn't huge. So if Tabitha couldn't detect anything then chances are she wouldn't either, and especially not in a place like this. She tried to explain this to Miria but she wouldn't have any of it. Miria asked her to be here and detect incoming warriors, and especially the one she feared most.

It has been a few hours since Teresa left for her journey. She finally left the thick mangled forest an hour ago and began seeing green plains, which increased her field of view greatly. The wind began to pick up ever since she left the shelter of the forest, and it playfully tried to blow away her cloak as she held it down with one arm. The grass around her was thick and the hills plentiful, but not very steep. The area was full of colorful flowers and butterflies that fluttered around her. Teresa was surprised at herself when she attempted to playfully catch one, smiling like that little girl she used to be so long ago.

She surprised herself further when she realized she was avoiding stepping on the pretty flowers with her heavy boots. She let out a giggle as she realized how much she has changed, how much Clare has changed her. She never would have cared about such petty things before.

Suddenly the peace and serenity was interrupted when Teresa felt the presence of two of the organization's warriors. Either they were trying to hide their yoki, or they were just weak was difficult to say at this moment, so she began to approach them as she felt them walking towards her from the north.

After a while she saw the two figures cross a hill as they were heading towards her. Teresa confirmed that they must have been low ranking warriors, as their yoki auras were quite small and insignificant. The two warriors saw the figure in the brown cloak, and passed it off as a human as they could sense no yoki at all. Teresa could see that they tried t go around her but she walked towards them anyway. The two warriors stopped to face the hooded figure as she walked right up to them.

"What is it you want human?" one of them grunted.

Teresa remembered that she didn't have any yoki suppressant pills. Either Rubel forgot to give her some, or he intentionally didn't give them. She smiled at the idea of robbing these two warriors of their suppressant pills.

_Since when did Teresa have to resort to scavenging for suppressant pills? _She laughed.

"I would like to take your yoki suppressant pills"

At the sound of a female voice, one of the warriors replied looking surprised:

"How do you know of such things woman?"

"Just give them to me" Teresa warned.

"I don't think so, run along before you get hurt" the other scolded.

"I'm sorry but I need those pills, I'll try to make this as painless as possible."

The two looked dumbfounded as they heard those words, when suddenly in a flash, the cloaked figure faded into the wind and appeared behind them as she knocked them both on the head simultaneously, rendering them unconscious as they collapsed to the ground.

As the two warriors lay there motionless, Teresa reached for the small compartment in their armour and pulled out a few suppressant pills. She placed them in her own compartment and began to walk off.

_They should be awake in a few hours…_

Teresa left the two warriors, and continued on her journey towards the Southwest. As she reached the top of a small hill, there before her eyes stood the Grand city of Rabona off to the distance. As she stood in awe, a sudden strong breeze blew off her hood revealing her golden wavy hair as it danced in the wind.

The majestic city stood out like no other among these lands, especially because of it's sheer size and magnificence. This was the city of the fortunate, the rich. Rabona was the biggest and richest settlements of all the lands.

Teresa wondered if Clare was hiding within the city. She continued to stand there for a little while embracing the wind as she held on to her cloak, in an attempt to stop it from blowing away.

_Just a little longer Clare…_

Teresa pulled the hood back onto her head as she strolled down the hill towards the city of Rabona smiling.

Teresa knew that Rabona would never allow her kind within it's walls, she was just planning to break in silently without any of the guards noticing. However, the unfortunate warriors she ran into suddenly made it much easier for her.

A short while passed as she crossed the vast plains moving at a faster pace than before, excited to meet her Clare. She swallowed a suppressant pill a few minutes ago, as she was heading ever closer to the main gate. She removed her hood, revealing her face, whilst making sure her cloak was covering her warrior's suit and claymore on her back. As she approached the gate, there stood a few guards in knights armour inspecting people as they entered the city. Teresa noticed that a few people were wearing cloaks similar to hers, so there would be no reason why they would ask her to remove hers.

As Teresa reached the gate, a young guard approached her. He was wearing light armour with blonde hair worn in a pigtail. Next to him stood a bigger man in a full suit of armour holding a large sword. They both eyed her suspiciously as the rest of the guards inspected the other people that passed.

"State your business here" the younger man ordered.

Teresa responded calmly "I am here to meet an old friend"

The larger guard eyed her cloak as he noticed she was hiding something behind her back. Teresa tried her best to hide her claymore underneath her cloak before she arrived, but it seems that the man has discovered it despite her best efforts.

"Please remove your cloak lady," He ordered.

_Dam it… if they see my claymore they'll send me away… and my cover will be blown… I have no choice but to comply._

Teresa slowly began to open her cloak revealing her grey warriors suit and a large claymore holstered on her back. The two guard's eyes widened in amazement as they gazed upon the claymore while the others began pulling out their weapons. However Teresa was surprised when they didn't send her away. Both of them let out a smile as the smaller one began to speak:

"Put your cloak back on and come with me"

The other larger guard turned to face the others and told them that everything was alright, bringing relief to their worried faces as they sheathed their swords reluctantly.

As Teresa followed the two guards into the city, she had no idea what was going on, but she didn't care. Whatever reason these two guards had to escort her into the city was irrelevant to her. She planned on disappearing the moment a large crowd passed by them, but was surprised when the two guards let her to an empty street.

"My name is Sid, and this is Galk" the younger man informed.

"We know that you swallowed a suppressant pill," Galk added.

_What is going on? How do they know about the suppressant pills? And why are they so welcoming to someone like me in a place like this?_

"I believe that there are four former warriors that are hidden within this city" Teresa revealed.

Sid looked at her suspiciously, eyeing her closely as he replied:

"Well we didn't request for a claymore to come to this city, and your not wearing your full armour… so I can only presume that you are here unofficially… am I right?"

Teresa was lost for words as she looked at these two men. They obviously have met a claymore before, seeing as they know so much. She decided to just ask them directly about Clare.

"I am looking for a former warrior named Clare"

She could see Sid react to that name positively as he let out a smile. Teresa hoped for the best as she awaited his answer.

"I might know of a warrior by that name" he replied cheekily.

"What is your business with that warrior?" Galk questioned.

Teresa looked away for a moment unsure of what to say. She wanted to make up some lie, but she was just to excited to think of one. She desperately wanted to meet Clare and these two guys were her link to her.

"I'm just someone Clare knew a long time ago…" she replied softly.

"Very well, it can be safe to assume that your not here to kill her since you seem to have arrived unofficially, we will take you to her"

Teresa couldn't help but let out a pleasant smile as her soul jumped for joy. She was never so excited in her life. She cannot believe that she finally found Clare. The odds were stacked against her, but it seems that she has found that little child.

_Little child… I keep forgetting she's all grown up now._

Sid and Galk led her through the crowded streets of Rabona as she continued to disguise herself in her cloak. They led her to the middle of the city where the large temple stood.

_A temple?_

"Father Vincent knows of her whereabouts, me and Galk are not sure exactly where Clare is" Sid spoke as the three entered the front gates of the large temple. There stood a bold haired man wearing standard priest's clothing talking to a citizen. At the sight of Sid and Galk, the father finished his conversation and made his way to the three. Teresa removed her hood and the father immediately recognized her as a claymore, even though her eyes returned back to their normal color a while ago.

He let out a gentle smile as he turned to face Teresa.

"So what do we have here?"

"Another warrior father, she seeks Clare" Galk returned.

Father Vincent turned to face the new claymore warrior and spoke:

"Welcome to the holy city of Rabona"

Teresa didn't know how to reply, she never had to deal with a situation like this, and she certainly never had to speak to a man of God before. So she just stood there awkwardly.

"My name is Teresa… t..Thank you father" she forced out after a brief silence.

Father Vincent turned around to face a mini statue of Teresa and Clare within the temple as he softly spoke. "Clare once saved this very temple from a yoma and saved the lives of many of our priests and guards"

_Clare…_

He turned to face Teresa as he noticed a slight tear develop in one of her eyes and a light smile develop on her face, as he continued:

"We hide ten former warriors within these walls, I believe they have gone south somewhere. They don't tell me exactly where it is they go, but I know that it is south… if you like you can wait here for them to return"

Teresa turned around to face the blue sky outside of the temple as she thought of Clare.

"No, I think I'll go south and find her myself".


	14. Chapter 14

Well guys here is chapter 14. I was going to do this in two parts, but that would lead to a big cliffhanger which I didn't want to subject you guys to.

It's a little long but for good reason… trust me.

Seriously… enjoy. =)

* * *

Sid and Galk escorted Teresa through the crowded streets of Rabona towards a secret entrance on the southern side of the city. As they approached the southern wall of the city, the crowds began to disappear until it was just the three of them remaining. They arrived at a small gate that was wide open as Teresa could see the southern lands off to the distance. Sid and Galk stopped at the entrance of the gate and eyed Teresa.

"Go and look for Clare" Sid admitted as he leant against the side of the opened gate.

"Best of luck" Galk added.

Teresa gave them a warm smile as she slowly turned to face the great empty land towards the south. It looked similar to the land she crossed on her way to this great city, covered with small wavy hills and beautiful flowers that made the scene look almost as colorful as a rainbow. She placed her right foot forward to begin her search for Clare. As soon as she left the safety of the wall, The sun shown brightly on her face and a sudden gust of wind blew at her cloak as she held it down tightly.

Teresa let just enough yoki flow through her body to remove the effects of the suppressant pills. If she wanted to find Clare, she would need her yoki sensing ability above all else. Her eyes returned back to their normal silver state as she continued on her journey.

_Clare just a while longer… we will be together soon_

Sid and Galk watched Teresa walk off towards the south into the distance until she disappeared from their view.

"You think she'll find her?" Sid questioned as he continued to lean against the wall.

"She will definitely find her" Galk replied as he stared in the direction Teresa disappeared off to.

"Why are you so sure?" He asked curiously.

Galk let out a smile as he turned to his friend and crossed his arms.

"Did you not see the devotion she had in her eyes? It is clear that Clare is very dear to her"

Sid faced away from Galk, looking rather surprised by what he said. He didn't know that a pair of eyes could tell someone so much.

* * *

Clare sat against the meeting tree that was rooted next to the small lake in the middle of the oasis. She was tired of this training, and she was tired of this life. The ghosts have been doing nothing but train for the past seven years in the north and it was getting to her. Miria's recent nervous breakdown only made things worst, as she made them work harder than ever before.

Clare could see her comrades fighting each other off to the distance. She saw Miria battling against Uma, Helen and Deneve at the same time near the other end of the oasis. While the others were battling a little further away in the trees along the outside of the oasis.

Clare suddenly heard footsteps coming from behind her. She knew who it was of course, it was always the same person. Galatea also loved this spot next to the lake as she sat on Clare's left side next to the tree.

"Clare why don't you train, you'll get rusty if you keep avoiding it" Galatea softly spoke.

Clare gave her a cold shoulder as she turned to face the crystal clear lake on her right. She loved the water, she loved the way it reflected the sun and the way if felt against her body. She particularly liked this lake because it contained clear blue water like no other lake she knew of.

A moment of silence passed as the two warriors took in the serenity of their surroundings. The gentle sound of a light breeze and the sound of the water splashing against the sides of the lake soothed their mind during troublesome times.

"I just like to think to my self sometimes" Clare added, breaking the silence as she began to stare at the clear blue sky.

"I know all to well what you mean Clare"

Both of them noticed Miata and Clarice heading towards them from the lake. Clarice has been trying to force Miata to rest, but the child never seems to be tired. Galatea often told Clare about how the child only stops fighting when her body physically cannot move anymore, which Clare found quite amusing and fascinating at the same time.

"No Miata leave Galatea alone, I'm sure that she's tired"

"But mama I'm bored" the child replied looking up at Clarice.

"How can you not be tired? You're a little girl, you're supposed to have plenty of rest" Clarice nagged.

"But I'm not tired" Miata replied childishly as she let out a slight tantrum.

"I give up… go fight Miria then" Clarice sighed as she sat on Clare's right side while the child continued to whine in front of her.

"Really? I can fight Miria?" Miata replied excitingly.

"Clarice…Miria is already fighting three other people…" Galatea informed.

"I know that… but I'm running out of options...just please think of something, Miata can really be a handful… "

The brunette warrior seemed as if she was pondering something as a cheeky smile developed across her face.

"Hey why don't you fight her Clare? You're rather strong."

"I'm fine" Clare coldly brushed off, as she made herself more comfortable leaning lower towards the ground as she leant against the tree.

"Miata, Clare will fight you!" Clarice announced mischievously.

_What did I just hear? _Clare thought as she turned to face a blade race towards her head.

In a split second Clare frantically rolled to her side as the blade impaled the tree right where she sat a moment before. Clare pulled her claymore from its holster as she watched the small child pull hers out of the thick trunk of the tree.

"Clarice when this is over, I'm challenging you to a fight!" Clare yelled as she parried a blow to her body with such force, she slid against the ground.

Galatea couldn't help but release a light chuckle, while Clarice seemed to be genuinely frightened, finally realizing what deep water she just threw herself in.

* * *

Teresa was travelling for a short while through the windy plains towards the south as she suddenly felt extremely faint yoki signatures close by. She stopped moving, closed her eyes and cleared her mind of any thought, to fully concentrate on what she sensed.

_It's much too faint for me to get any information from it… but it seems to be coming from those two large hills just ahead…._

_Clare… why did you become what I never wanted you to be? _She thought sadly.

Teresa naturally suppressed her yoki remarkably, but she had to try to suppress it even further. She didn't want the other nine warriors to detect her coming. The last thing she wanted to do was kill one of Clare's friends if they turned hostile towards her.

_Well, I wonder how strong my little Clare has gotten… _she smiled as she began to walk towards the two large hills.

* * *

_Dam it she's fast_

Clare and Miata were going at it for a few minutes now and Clare was struggling to keep up with Miata while suppressing her yoki. Clare was never particularly good at suppressing her yoki and tended to release it unintentionally. Clare could see that Miata was having fun, but also fighting at her limit while not releasing her yoki, much like Clare herself.

_This little girl is going to be a monster when she get's older…_

Miata began to swing her blade at speeds that Clare struggled to keep up with as one of Miata's blows managed to cut her right arm. Miata saw Clare place her Claymore behind her back as a sudden whirlwind of blades wailed towards the young warrior. Clare's wind cutter severed the soil underneath her feet and kicked grass up into the air as Miata was forced to back off from the onslaught of blades.

"HEY DON'T USE THAT AGAINST MIATA! SHE'S JUST A CHILD!" Clare could hear Clarice yell from the nearby tree.

_Clarice I swear to you I will pay you back for this…_

As the fight progressed, Clare found herself walking backwards away from Miata as she parried the child's powerful blows with her claymore. Eventually the two warriors returned to the tree Galatea and Clarice sat against as Clare jumped on a large branch above Clarice.

_Come on Miata… cut off this branch… _thought Clare.

Miata leapt towards Clare swinging her claymore in an uppercut as she dodged Miata's blade that sunk into the branch cutting it off cleanly. As the branch began to fall, Clare jumped off it and landed behind the tree smiling to herself as she saw Clarice frantically throw herself out of the way of the heavy piece of wood that would have landed on top of her.

_I told you I would pay you back…_

Clare could see Miria and the others heading back towards the meeting tree. They have been fighting for most of the day and they all looked tired, especially Miria. Clare remembered Miria saying not to train until they felt exhausted, as it was vital the ghosts were always ready to combat the organizations warriors who may have discovered them.

Miata continued her assault on Clare as Miria and the others arrived at the tree and sat down close to Galatea and Clarice letting out a large sigh of relief as they finally took a break from their training.

"Man Miria, you sure know how to dodge attacks" Helen boasted as she sat next to Clarice.

"We must have worn her out, making her use her phantom ability literally thousands of times" remarked Deneve.

"I'm alright" assured Miria as she turned to watch Clare fight that small talented child. "So I see Clare is fighting Miata"

"It should be a rather close fight" remarked Galatea.

* * *

Teresa finally approached the thick jungle of trees in between the two massive hills, feeling faint yoki signatures just ahead. She closed her eyes and made a last ditch effort to make herself undetectable as she cautiously began to move through the dense maze of plants and trees, using her hands to move the leaves and branches out of her way.

_I wonder if I would be able to recognize her…_

_I wonder how much she has changed…_

_No matter how hard I try, I cannot picture her with blonde hair and silver eyes…._

_I hope she will still be that sweet little girl I first met…._

Teresa felt that she was nearing the end of the dense jungle of trees and began to quicken her pace. She soon saw the end, as she noticed the light coming through the gaps of leaves in front of her. Soon enough she stopped, hiding behind a large bush of leaves and gazed at awe at the enormous interior.

Teresa's heart skipped a beat when she saw many figures sitting beside a lone tree in the middle of the oasis.

_Could one of them be Clare? _She thought to herself.

While Teresa was making her way along the south, she tried to think of the best way to approach Clare. She decided to remain hidden and only reveal herself when she had located Clare. If she neglects this and just walks into the group of warriors, she might frighten them and cause them to attack her. Since these warriors suppress their yoki well, it was difficult for Teresa to measure their power, and for all she knew they could very well be as strong or even stronger than her, and that was a risk she wasn't willing to take.

Teresa saw a large boulder in front of her that would give her a closer look at the warriors while also providing a place to hide. Teresa bent her legs and sprinted towards the boulder as fast as she could without releasing even the smallest amount of Yoki from her body. As she sat there behind the rock, she poked her head out and inspected the scene.

She could see two warriors doing battle against each other. One was a small child with long hair, while the other was a fully-grown figure with short chin-length hair. The others seemed to be watching the two doing battle from the tree that was nearby. Teresa tried to squint her eyes in an attempt to see their faces, but they were too far away. She looked around for any other cover that was closer to the warriors but sadly she saw none.

_That young warrior is impressive… she's fighting on pair with that older one._

_I don't think the others can detect me…_

_It looks like I'm going to have to wait until they come closer…_

* * *

Miata swung her blade mercilessly at Clare as she dodged her blow and managed a cut on Miata's left leg. Miata paced herself backwards as she began to sob quietly. The cut wasn't too deep, but it obviously would have hurt. Clare approached Miata and put her hand on her shoulder.

"You did good Miata, you are truly a good fighter"

Miata immediately glanced at Clare clearly happy about being praised. When suddenly Miata turned to face her side. Clare could see something has caught the attention of the little girl as she continued to be distracted by something.

"What is it Miata?" Asked a curious Clare.

After a short pause, Miata turned to face Clare and replied:

"There is something here".

Clare felt a sudden wave of uneasiness race through her body as she heard those words.

Clare managed to say calmly to Miata "Miata, don't look around yourself, if there is something here, we don't want them to know that we can detect them…." She paused slightly. "We are going to head back to Miria calmly and tell her about this… you got that?"

The little girl nodded, indicating that she understood what she has been told. Clare and Miata began to walk back to the tree hiding their nervousness along the way.

"And then, Deneve accidently hit me with her elbow while I tried to attack Miria" joked Helen to the others.

"That's because you were so close to me" Deneve harshly responded.

"It's not my fault you're clumsy!" Helen retorted.

"And its not my fault you have no sense of direction!" snorted Deneve.

The others let out a slight chuckle except for Miria who noticed Clare and Miata return.

She could immediately see that something was wrong.

Clare's face had an unusual ghostly white look to it, the kind of look Clare get's when she has learned of something shocking or fears something greatly.

"C…Clare what's wrong?" Miria asked.

"Miata tells me that something is here" Clare nervously replied.

The others immediately turned silent as they heard those words. They kept their eyes glued on the concerned looking Clare who stood there eying them back.

Miria now began to looked concerned as she turned to face Miata as she asked:

"How do you know that Miata?"

"I smell someone hiding over there…" she was about to point to the direction when Clarice suddenly stopped her.

"Miata we don't want them to know that they have been found out!" Clarice scolded.

"Miata, walk behind the tree and point to where the figures are hiding, but make sure they are on the other side of the tree so they don't see you pointing" a nervous Miria ordered.

"But it's only one lady" The girl responded.

_Lady? Then there's a good chance it's a warrior of the organization _thought Miria.

"Go and do it now Miata" Clarice asked her calmly.

Miata walked behind the tree and pointed to the North.

Miria turned to face Galatea "Galatea, can you sense someone in that direction?" as she tried to avoid staring towards the northern end of the oasis.

Galatea focused her mind towards the direction Miata pointed at and felt an extremely suppressed yoki aura coming from the distance.

"Miria…now that I focused directly at the source I am able to just make it out, whoever she is, she has a remarkable ability to suppress yoki…"

_Shit…. This is not good…. _

_All these signs point to that warrior I've seen before…_

_If it is her, then it looks like we might have to fight her…_

_Or should we scatter? _

_I just don't know what to do…_

"Miria" Clare said as she interrupted Miria's thoughts "what do we do?"

Miria put on a brave face as she spoke to her entire team "we are going to attack the intruder… when I believe that we are outmatched, we will scatter immediately…. Don't even look behind just scatter in random directions,"

The rest of her team listened to her closely and she began telling them her plan.

"Clare… you and me are going to pretend to be fighting each other. We are going to hide ourselves in the trees surrounding this oases and attempt to sneak behind her unnoticed."

Miria paused for a second as she continued "the rest of you are going to act like nothing happened and begin walking towards the northern end of the oasis talking casually among each other to distract her from me and Clare. Helen, I need you to be loud and pretend to laugh to make her think that we haven't detected her presence"

"Umm…ok" a nervous Helen replied.

"Everyone got the plan?" Miria questioned, looking anxiously into the eyes of her comrades.

They all gave a nod as Miria let out a sigh.

_I only hope that I am wrong, I hope that it won't be that warrior from before…_

* * *

_Now the short haired one is fighting another one and are heading towards the trees…_

_The rest are heading…. Towards me… not good._

Teresa began to feel uneasy about a large number of warriors suddenly heading towards her. She looked behind her and knew that if she were to run back into the trees, the others would see her do so.

_What should I do…_

Suddenly Teresa felt the aura of the two warriors coming ever closer to her from the trees to her left.

_Do they know that I am here? Are they trying to flank me?_

Teresa briefly removed her cloak and pulled her claymore from it's holster and immediately placed it back around her body, making sure to cover her face as she continued to lean behind the boulder.

_I hope they won't notice me… I still haven't located Clare yet…_

Suddenly one of the yoki auras immediately disappeared from the trees to the left as Teresa felt an unnatural movement of wind behind her. She threw herself to the side, exposing herself to the others as she narrowly dodged a blade that was aimed for her head.

Teresa immediately distanced herself from the strange spiky haired warrior, when she suddenly appeared behind her again.

_How is she moving so quickly?_

Teresa hastily swung her claymore behind her back to parry the blow, and turned around to strike, but the warrior disappeared from sight yet again.

_Her movements are a little difficult to read, since she hides her aura…_

Teresa felt another yoki presence behind her as she turned around to block the shorthaired warrior's successive attacks easily.

_There's something strange about this shorthaired warrior's yoki…_

Immediately Teresa felt seven others charge towards her. She knew that it was vital to reduce their numbers as soon as possible because even she would have some trouble defending herself from nine attackers at once.

Teresa kicked the shorthaired warrior in the gut, as she flew violently towards the trees into the thick mangroves, disappearing from sight.

_Eight left… _thought Teresa.

Teresa saw from the corner of her eye, one of the warrior's extend her arm in an attempt to cut her down, but she easily avoided the attack as it met the ground.

_That's weird… I've never seen anything besides an awaken being do that before…_

Before she had time to finish thinking, six others surrounded her and swung their blades at her furiously. Teresa managed to dodge them all, although she noticed one of their claymores rip her cloak, exposing the grey suit on her right leg.

T_his is dangerous… I might need to use my yoki powers…_

As fast as she could, Teresa jumped away from the gang of warriors and landed a considerable distance away from them. The ghosts eyed the mysterious figure in the hood, while Teresa eyed the strange warriors.

_I don't think anyone of these warriors are Clare…_

…_There are only three with long hair… the blind one, the weakest one and the child… but none of them have Clare's face…_

"You guys are pretty good…. You might make me use my yoki…." Before she could finish, she felt that familiar unnatural breeze above her as she deflected a blow from the spiky haired warrior that suddenly ghosted above her. The force of the blow was so severe, that Teresa was forced to kneel down as her body was pushed to the ground.

Teresa released 10% of her yoki as her eyes turned into a brilliant gold that shined easily through the shadows of her hood, revealing it to her attackers. Seeing this, the spiky haired warrior leaped away from her to join the rest of her party.

The others charged towards her furiously as Teresa deflected the blow of one of them, whilst jumping into the air to evade the numerous attacks of the others. She landed behind the small one and kicked her in the back, causing her to take to the air and hit the side of the large boulder with enough force to daze, but not seriously injure her.

_Seven left…_

Teresa tried to remove her hood in an attempt to show her face and hope to stop the fight but once again was forced to defend herself as she saw the spiky haired woman appear next to her as she swing her blade. Teresa with amazing speed dodged the warrior's attack and managed to plow her elbow against the side of her head before she phantomed out of the way. The spiky haired warrior fell to the ground with enormous force, kicking dust in the air as she lost consciousness.

"Miria!!!" Teresa could hear the rest yell.

_Six left…_

Suddenly, the blind one and two others attacked her from behind, Teresa turned around and tried to punch one in the gut, but she felt her hand move off in a different direction, totally missing the target as one of their blades managed to cut her on the cheek.

_Oh I see… the blind one can control an opponent's yoki… very clever…_

Teresa cunningly evaded another attack as she swung the blunt side of her claymore into the gut of the blind one, who wasn't quick enough to dodge Teresa's blow. Blood rushed out of her mouth as she crashed towards the ground, rolling many times over until she stopped.

_Five left…_

The five remaining warriors swung their weapons towards her from all sides, but she managed to kick the long haired one out of the way, whist parrying two blows and dodging the last two. Teresa dropped her claymore and grabbed two of the warriors by their necks and rammed their faces in the dirt with enormous force.

_Two left…_

At the sight of the mysterious hooded figure taking out three of their comrades at once, the one with two loose ponytails and the one with a single one began to back away from fear.

"Didn't you hear what Miria said! Run away now!" the Blind one barked as she remained on the ground, clearly unable to move from the pain. Teresa saw the two warriors run into the trees as she went over to pick up her blade.

Teresa once again tried to remove her cloak when she felt a figure dash towards her from behind.

_What is this familiar yoki I'm sensing?_

She turned around to once again see the shorthaired warrior swing her claymore at her furiously with blood dripping from her forehead. Teresa easily read the warrior's flow of yoki as she began to recklessly emit it. Teresa with no trouble dodged the predictable attacks of the warrior.

"Clare! What are you doing! Run!" The blind one roared.

_Clare?... did she just say Clare?_

_Is…this…Clare....?_

_Was that why the yoki felt so familiar…. Because…. It is…..mine?_

Teresa took a closer look at the face of the young warrior and suddenly realized she was staring at her little girl who was now all grown up. Teresa remembers her beautiful brown hair and green eyes, but now those beautiful eyes turned to a cold silver and her long brown hear to a short chin-length blonde.

_She was the one I kicked first into the trees…._

_I'm so sorry Clare…_

"Wait stop!" Teresa frantically yelled, but to no avail. The warrior seemed to ignore her and her teammate's plea to run as she placed her claymore behind her back and released a sudden whirlwind of steel towards Teresa.

_Clare…._

As fast as the wind cutter was, it barely gave Teresa any trouble. She stopped the onslaught of blades being thrown at her as the ground before her began to cut up, kicking dirt and grass around them both.

Realizing her attack wasn't strong enough, the warrior further released her yoki, revealing a set of golden eyes that stared deep into the shadows of Teresa's hood. She then did a similar attack, one very familiar to Teresa. She felt the distinct Aura of Irene as the short haired warrior threw another onslaught of blades towards her, this time travelling so fast, the very air felt like it was being sliced up.

_Irene's Quicksword?_

"Clare stop!" Teresa frantically plead as she used her claymore to defend herself from the onslaught of blades, but her voice was dragged away by the powerful winds generated by the Quicksword.

_There is no way I can bring myself to hurt Clare…_

_All I can do is just keep defending myself._

_Dam it Clare give me just one second to take off this hood…._

"Clare please stop!" Teresa yelled as she continued to defend herself, but Clare was too frenzied to hear her voice.

During Clare's onslaught of attacks, Teresa saw many openings to strike but she ignored them. If this were any other warrior, Teresa would have ended it almost before it started. Instead, she was looking for an opportunity to remove her hood and reveal her face, but Clare didn't give her even one second to do so. Clare was swinging her blade in a frenzy towards her, as if she was her mortal enemy.

It was breaking Teresa's heart to see Clare gaze at her with such monstrous hate in her eyes…

_Clare please stop…_

Seeing her chance, Teresa attempted to remove her hood with her offhand, but was forced to return it to the hilt of her blade as she anticipated an incoming kick to her gut. Teresa positioned the blunt side of her blade in front of her using it as a shield to stop Clare's kick, when suddenly her arms involuntarily moved her Claymore closer to the ground, which allowed Clare to ram her foot into Teresa's gut.

_Dam… that…blind one…_ Teresa thought as a mountain of pain raced through her body forcing her to spit out blood while she flew through the air from the enormous impact that made her drop her claymore. Teresa violently landed on the ground rolling many times over until she came to a rest with her back against the ground and her face towards the sky.

Suddenly a blade was pointed towards her throat. Teresa looked at the serious face of Clare as she held her blade firmly against Teresa's throat. Teresa knew there was no way she could reach her claymore that lay against the grass, and she wasn't sure if she could move fast enough to avoid getting killed. She decided not to take the risk and began to suppress her yoki as her golden eyes reverted back to their silver state.

"Clare! Kill her now while you can!" she heard the blind one roar.

Clare stared at the hooded figure beneath her feet. She wanted to see the face of the warrior that she was about to silence.

"Remove that hood of yours now" Clare harshly demanded while pointing her blade a little closer to Teresa's neck.

Teresa slowly moved her hands towards her hood. She grabbed the sides of the cloth and began to pull it down, removing her face from the shadows and revealing it to Clare.

Clare could almost feel her heart stop and her blood freeze from the sheer shock of gazing upon this angel that lay beneath her feet. The area around Teresa suddenly faded from existence and time itself seemed to stop as Clare passionately stared into those beautiful silver eyes…those eyes that belonged to the person who meant more than the entire world to her. Teresa's long wavy hair danced gracefully across her face by the touch of the gentle wind, and the sun's rays reflected kindly off each individual strand creating that distinct golden reflection that beamed into Clare's eyes.

Clare struggled to move her blade away from Teresa's throat as her hands began to shake uncontrollably from the sheer shock and excitement that raced ecstatically through her entire body. Her fragile hands gave way as she dropped her claymore off to the side while Teresa glanced at her with a warm joyful smile.

Tears fell from Clare's eyes as she collapsed on Teresa, wrapping her hands around her tightly as she began to weep. She held her as if she was never letting go… holding her like she used to so long ago. As Clare embraced Teresa, she felt the gentle warmness of her body and entranced by the distinct scent of her hair, the pleasant aroma that she has never forgotten, even after all these years.

"Clare… it's good to see you again…" Teresa gently whispered into her ear.

Clare began drowning Teresa in a puddle of her own tears as she lay against her idol, pushing her face ever closer to Teresa's while whimpering her name over and over. Teresa felt a few drops of tears develop in her own eyes and she held Clare tightly towards her.

The rest of the injured Ghosts couldn't believe their eyes the moment they saw Clare collapse next to the unknown warrior. At first they thought that Clare collapsed from exhaustion or from some sort of wound, but then they noticed the other warrior wrap her hands around Clare holding her passionately. As the warrior held Clare, the ghosts heard a sound they thought they would never hear.

The sound of Clare crying…

As the two lay against each other on the soft grass, Clare turned her trembling face to Teresa's and tried to mutter something through her tears, but Teresa just silenced her by gently placing a finger against her lips.

"It's alright Clare…I'm here now" Reassured Teresa as she stroked Clare's right cheek gently with her fingers.

"T…Te..Teresa…" Clare stuttered as she rested her head back on Teresa.

"Clare… how long are you going to hold me like this?" Teresa asked gently to a fragile Clare.

"N…never again…" Clare stuttered.

"Never again what Clare?" Teresa asked confused.

"Never leave me again Teresa" She babbled as she continued to rest her head against her sobbing.

Teresa let out a gentle smile as she placed her hand behind Clare's head and held it softly against her body.

"I promise I will never leave you again"

* * *

"W..What the hell am I seeing…I think I hit my head too hard… but it looks like Clare is…hugging her now….the guy who just rammed both our heads in the dirt…" Helen announced sounding as confused as ever as she held her head.

"No… your seeing it right… it appears she is someone Clare knows" Replied Deneve who's head was still spinning from the impact.

Helen turned her head to the right and could see Tabitha and Cynthia dragging the rest of their wounded comrades towards them. She could see Clarice who stayed out of the fight, run out of the trees to embrace an injured Miata.

_Where is Miria?_

Helen and Deneve frantically turned their heads around to try and locate their captain when finally Deneve spotted her. She lay unconscious on the ground some distance away from them.

"Is everyone alright?" a concerned Tabitha asked as she dragged Uma next to Helen.

"Never been better" Helen joked as she attempted to hide the pain she was in.

Cynthia shortly arrived placing Galatea on the soft grass next to Helen, as she noticed Miria lying unconscious.

"I'm going to heal Miria, Tabitha take care of them" she ordered with a look of concern.

Tabitha nodded showing that she understood what she had to do as Cynthia ran towards their captain.

"So how long do you think they are going to lie there?" asked Helen to her friend.

"I don't know… but I have never seen Clare like this before… I hope she's alright" Deneve replied anxiously.

"yeah… I guess we are looking at the real Clare now." Helen wisely replied as she saw the two get to their feet, still holding each other tightly.

Cynthia frantically ran to Miria as she knelt by her side to inspect her captain. She tried to revive her by shaking her head, but there was no response from her.

_Perhaps if I jolt her yoki to wake her…_

Cynthia placed her hands on Miria's forehead and tried to force her to release her yoki in an attempt to wake her up. Soon enough, Miria regained consciousness and eyed her comrade closely.

"What…happened?"

"Don't speak Miria, your badly shaken up…" Cynthia replied.

Miria began to sit up and inspect her surroundings, looking for her team and the enemy. Her head was in a blur from the enormous impact the warrior's elbow made with her head. She could see the rest of the ghosts laying a short distance in front of her in a small group. She then looked beyond the group and saw a strange blonde haired figure standing in the distance.

_Is… that.... the enemy?_

Miria's blood began to boil as she stared at the warrior. She was so frenzied from anger that she didn't even notice Clare standing right next to her as they happily chatted to each other. Miria clenched her hands in a fist as she noticed her claymore lying on the ground on her left. She immediately picked it up and ran as fast as she could towards the warrior.

"Hey Miria! Where are you going!" Cynthia roared as she saw her captain frantically sprint past her.

As Miria ran past the ghosts, she didn't even hear their pleas for her to stop as she blindly darted towards the newcomer. Teresa immediately noticed the incoming warrior charging towards her as she pushed Clare out of the way and evaded the frenzied warriors attacks one after another. Clare watched in horror as her friend tried to kill an unarmed Teresa.

"TERESA!" Clare yelled desperately from the overwhelming fear of loosing her again.

She wasn't going to let anyone take Teresa away from her a second time.

As she watched Miria trying to hurt Teresa, Clare's fear transformed into anger and then to gruesome hate. Clare's rage was so indescribably great that she instantly released 50% of her yoki as she charged towards her captain with the intent of hurting her greatly.

"DON'T EVER TOUCH HER OR I'LL FRICKIN KILL YOU!" Clare roared with monstrous anger as she charged like a bull towards her captain.

Miria turned to face the sound of the furious voice, and was astounded to see Clare charging madly towards her. Miria could see the hatred in Clare's eyes, hatred that was directed towards her as she saw Clare's furious golden eyes stare deep into her own.

_Clare…. Why?....._ A confused Miria thought as she eyed the charging warrior.

Clare pulled her right arm back and with all her might, rammed it into her astonished captain's side. Miria flew through the air from the colossal impact as she hit the side of a distant tree and falling face first on the cold ground.

As Miria lay motionless against the dirt, she tried to comprehend what just happened a moment ago. The words_ 'I'LL FRICKIN KILL YOU!_' played over and over in her mind as she struggled to understand why Clare felt so hostile towards her_._

A deathly silence passed as all eyes were on the captain. Miria shakily got to her feet and tried to ignore the excruciating pain she felt all over her body as she turned to face Clare. She could see the way Clare was staring at her, like she was her mortal enemy as Clare stood there breathing heavily standing next to the unknown warrior. She knew Clare for seven years, and she never would have thought that she would loose herself like this.

Realizing the threat was gone, Clare's anger began to die down and her yoki suppress, as her golden eyes reverted back to their original silver state. She turned to face a shocked Teresa who couldn't believe what Clare just did, how far she was willing to go to protect her.

"Clare… you really hit her hard…"

Clare slammed herself into Teresa wrapping her arms around her tightly as she cried on her shoulder.

"I thought I was going to loose you again… I never want to loose you again" she sobbed.

Cynthia and Tabitha anxiously ran towards their wounded captain, wrapping her arms around their shoulders as they dragged her to the rest of the group.

"n..No… bring… me to Clare" Miria mumbled under the extreme pain she was in.

Tabitha and Cynthia both looked at each other concernedly unsure if it was a good idea to bring Miria close to an emotional Clare. The rest of the ghosts picked themselves up and slowly approached Clare and Teresa, curious as to who this new warrior was and how she managed to make Clare of all people cry.

Clare and Teresa noticed the rest of the ghosts standing around them still trying to understand what just happened in the past few moments. Clare saw Tabitha and Cynthia bring a wounded Miria next to her, she was beaten and bruised and bled furiously from the side of her head.

"Miria… I'm sorr….." Clare whispered to her captain as Miria struggled to stand upright on her own.

Miria let out a forced smile as she looked at Clare. "No Clare… I'm sorry…I didn't know what I was doing…"

Teresa looked at all the strange faces around her, faces that wanted to kill her a moment before, but now they just eyed her curiously.

"Soooo… this is a little awkward…." Helen uttered, breaking the silence.

"May we ask who this is Clare?" Deneve questioned, not expecting an answer.

Clare finally let go of Teresa, facing the ghosts as she wiped away her tears.

"This is Teresa…" she mumbled.

The rest of the ghosts couldn't believe their ears when they heard that name, but none so much as Miria who's eyes widened in sheer disbelief as she gazed upon Teresa.

"T…Teresa of the faint smile?" Miria stuttered as she almost choked from her own words.

Teresa let out a gentle laugh, watching all the amazed faces glancing at her.

"You guys didn't really give me a chance to reveal myself, I honestly didn't want to fight you but you gave me no choice."

She turned to face Clare as she continued: "Clare I'm so sorry for hitting you into the trees, I didn't know it was you"

"And…I'm sorry for kicking you Teresa" Clare responded still sobbing from before.

"Consider us even now" Teresa lightheartedly joked to a still astonished Clare who glanced upon her with eyes of worship.

* * *

… Writing this chapter SERIOUSLY made me consider jumping off a cliff. It was my biggest challenge so far and I would love to know what you guys think.

Anyways please review and tell me what you think.

Note: in this chapter, I assumed that Miria doesn't know what Teresa looks like, I don't think it mentions that in the manga.

Stay tuned.


	15. Chapter 15

Shortly after their encounter, Teresa and Clare sat underneath the meeting tree talking amongst themselves as the rest of the ghosts watched from a far. Clare didn't say much to the ghosts after meeting Teresa, the two just made their way underneath the tree almost as if the rest didn't exist.

Miria was constantly replaying the encounter with Teresa in her head. She felt terrible for trying to kill Teresa in front of Clare. Miria still remembers the night when she followed Clare out of Rabona and witnessed her cry herself to sleep. Only now does she realize why Clare reacted so violently towards her. Clare already lost Teresa once, and would do anything to save her from death a second time. Miria only hoped that Clare would forgive her for doing what she did.

As the two sat underneath the tree off to the distance, the rest of the Ghosts stood around each other watching them in silence.

"So that's Teresa, a former number one huh?" Helen asked still holding her head in pain.

"Looks like it" replied Deneve.

"What is she doing here?" questioned Tabitha.

"It's strange… Teresa should be dead" alleged Miria sounding a little suspicious as she watched Teresa and Clare giggling amongst themselves under the tree.

"How long have they been sitting there?" asked Cynthia

"Been about an hour now" replied Uma.

"That Teresa is really something… she took us all while not even properly fighting back" Helen remarked.

"Yeah she really is something…" Tabitha replied.

"Looks like Miria has some competition!" teased Helen.

"Hey what's that supposed to mean!" Tabitha concurred staring angrily at Helen.

Helen and Tabitha began arguing among each other when Deneve intervened:

"Look at Clare… look how….she's laughing. Have you ever seen her so happy?"

After what Deneve had said, there was a long silence as the ghosts watched Clare setting next to Teresa. It was as if Clare was a different person, and they realized they didn't really know their friend very well at all.

Teresa and Clare sat like young schoolgirls underneath the meeting tree next to the small lake in the middle of the oasis.

"Tell me everything I missed Clare" Teresa asked excitingly.

"There's just too much to say Teresa" Clare replied joyfully.

"Ok so let me ask you a question.." Teresa asked as she placed her index finger on her lips thinking to herself for a while. Then her facial expression changed to show that she thought of something.

"What happened to your long hair Clare?"

"Just an accident during training… but it doesn't matter because I am still me"

Teresa gave her a warm smile as she placed her hand on her head.

"Clare...look at how much you've grown, you're an adult now" Teresa said lightly.

"Well it's been a while since you were gone Teresa" Clare replied blushing slightly.

Teresa took a close look at Clare's right arm and felt a different yoki signature from it. During the fight she swore that she felt the aura of Irene.

"Clare, what's wrong with your right arm?"

"It's Irene's arm Teresa, she gave it to me when… someone cut mine off"

"Who was it? I'll rip their head off!" Teresa wailed as her gentle face changed to disgust.

"It was a warrior named Ophelia, but Irene saved me from her" Clare added.

Teresa looked at her surprised as she replied:"Irene saved you?"

"Yes, she gave me her remaining right arm and taught me how to use the quicksword"

"I can't believe Irene did that… I should have been a bit nicer to her in the early years" Teresa joked.

After a short moment of silence, Clare added:

"Teresa I swear I will kill Priscilla"

Hearing those words, Teresa's face changed to sadness as she got to her feet and looked up into the sky. The wind blew her hair gently off to the side as she continued to stare off into the blue abyss.

"No Clare it's too dangerous"

"But Teresa she…."

Teresa looked down at Clare's face, looking deep into her eyes as she interrupted: "Clare you brought joy into my life, I'm here now in front of you. What will revenge do but only cause more suffering?"

After she said that to her, Teresa returned her gaze up into the sky. Almost immediately after doing so, she heard the sound of Clare crying. She returned her face to Clare as she saw her weeping to herself as she sat underneath her feet.

Clare whimpered through her tears: "you were the only one that kept me safe, my only friend in this entire world and she robbed me of you!"

_Clare…_

"We could have lived happily… and in peace…both of us no longer felt lonely…we were there for each other…"

_Clare…_

"The day you died…I lost everything…you were my world…I just didn't feel like living anymore" Clare paused slightly as she wiped away her tears. "The only reason I kept on living is to take revenge on Priscilla!"

Tears fell from Teresa's eyes as she knelt down, wrapping her arms tightly around Clare as they both held each other in a tight embrace.

The rest of the ghosts watched in silence as the two warriors held each other tightly underneath the tree. None of them dared to disrupt Clare's time alone with Teresa, even Helen knew better than that. It was difficult for them to watch Teresa speak to their friend the way she did. Clare never acted this way to any of them, she always seemed cold natured and tended to keep to herself.

Helen was the first to break the silence:

"I cant believe how different Clare is acting… is as if she's a different person…"

"But have you ever seen Clare so… happy?" Deneve replied.

The rest of the Ghosts looked at Deneve. The Clare they knew was a depressed soul with a dark past, but they could never imagine her so happy. In fact, in the entire seven years they knew each other, Clare has barely even shown the slightest hint of emotion. Now ever since she met Teresa, she appears to be a bottomless pit of emotion.

While the rest of the Ghosts were busy wondering why and how Clare has changed so suddenly, Miria was the only one among them who wasn't. She already knew the answer. Ever since Clare told her the brief story of how she met Teresa, Miria always knew that her heart was full of sadness from loosing Teresa. She realized just how big that hole in Clare's heart actually was when she followed her friend out of Rabona late at night and witnessed her cry herself to sleep, as she moaned Teresa's name in sadness.

"It's been long enough, I want to learn more about that Teresa… I say we go talk to them both" Helen yelled in frustration as she eyed the two off to the distance.

"No Helen, we will leave them together… this is Clare's moment" Miria wisely replied.

"Miria's right, we don't want to disturb them" Deneve added.

The sun had almost set and the night fast approaching as the ghosts and Teresa made their way back to Rabona from their training ground. Teresa and Clare were walking close to each other while the rest of the ghosts kept a small distance apart not speaking a word to each other as they closely eyed the two. They could hear Teresa and Clare laughing to each other, saying stories and other humorous things throughout the entire trip.

As they finally entered the secret southern gate of the city. They walked through the empty streets under the cover of the darkness until the finally arrived at the church, entering a secret spiral staircase until they arrived at their base of operations.

Clare began showing Teresa around their secret hideout while the rest of the ghosts stayed in the main 'living' room. Clare and Teresa hadn't stopped speaking to each other ever since they met, while the ghosts remained silent ever since.

The rest of the ghosts sat against chairs around the various tables in the room, and Miria lay her head against her table. She tried to comprehend on what just happened the past few hours. This was either a really good thing or a really bad thing she thought. If Teresa joined them, that would be a good thing, but since Teresa outclasses her in every aspect, her leadership was under threat. She kept on wondering if Clare would intervene if Teresa threatened to take her leadership. But her mind was in doubt as she remembered Clare furiously smash her into the side of the tree. The monstrous anger she saw in Clare's eyes honestly scared her, as she saw a side of her friend she never knew even existed.

After a while, Teresa and Clare returned to the main room where the ghosts sat, still chatting furiously amongst each other. Both of them began giggling to something one of them had said as they sat at a nearby table. The ghosts tried not to stare at Teresa, but as hard as they tried, they couldn't help it. They felt threatened and curious at the same time. They weren't entirely comfortable with the idea of having such a powerful warrior staying with them, but seeing how she made Clare so happy, they were reluctantly accepting of her.

"Clare, do you have a drink around here?" Teresa asked as she tried to make herself comfortable on the wooden chair she sat on.

"I'll get one for you Teresa" Tabitha interrupted from a table near them.

The rest of the ghosts remained in silence, surprised by the fact that Tabitha dared to answer Teresa when she clearly directed her question at Clare. They didn't know how Teresa would react, and they held their breaths as they waited for her response.

"Sure… thank you" Teresa replied looking slightly surprised.

As Tabitha left the room, the ghosts began to ease up and Helen summoned enough courage to even say an inappropriate Joke to Clare's new friend.

"I'm sure you'll get used to Tabitha, she'll do anything you ask" She laughed cheekily.

Teresa didn't know what the warrior meant by that comment, and felt a little left out, as if she was the only one who didn't understand the joke. She leant over to Clare and whispered in her ear:

"Clare, what is she talking about?"

"Never mind Teresa" Clare replied as she lowered her head in embarrassment from Helen's comment.

Teresa wasn't used to situations like this. She was never a very social person. All her life she distanced herself away from others, or rather, others distanced themselves away from her. She always thought of others as useless, that nobody was in her own league. She did feel a bit uncomfortable about being near Clare's friends, and especially because of the way they closely eyed her. However she was thankful for the way they took Care of Clare while she was gone.

Teresa looked over at Miria who sat alone in the corner of the room with her head against the table. She turned over to Clare and spoke:

"Clare, would you excuse me for a moment"

Clare looked at her with eyes of concern, as if she didn't want Teresa to leave her side.

"It's alright Clare, I'm not going anywhere" she smiled back.

Teresa got off her chair and walked towards Miria. The rest of the ghosts held their breaths as they heard the heavy thud of Teresa's boots as she walked over to their Captain. Miria lifted her head up and eyed Teresa as she sat down next to her. She wasn't sure what Teresa wanted, but she hoped it wasn't something that would challenge her leadership. Miria was afraid of Teresa…afraid that she would take her leadership, afraid that she would take Clare away and afraid of her monstrous power. But Teresa just sat there with a faint smile and eyed her closely. The former number one opened her mouth and spoke softly, so nobody else could hear her voice except Miria.

"I understand that you feel your position is under threat but I assure you I have no intentions of leading this group."

Miria continued to stare at Teresa as she heard her surprisingly comforting words. She honestly thought Teresa would challenge her.

It was a law of nature.

The strongest always wins, but in this case…Teresa's heart seems to have been tamed by Clare, that little girl who was now a warrior like her.

"I just want to thank you for being a good leader and a friend to Clare. She told me all about you and how well you lead your group." She paused for a short moment as she continued:

"Clare speaks rather high of you and it is clear that she respects you. Anyone who Clare respects, I also respect. I just want you to know that as long as I can be with Clare, I have no problems with following your leadership."

Teresa honestly struggled to say those words. As good a leader Miria might have been, it was still difficult for Teresa to follow another warrior's orders. But this warrior kept her Clare safe. Teresa wasn't interested in leading, she only wanted to be by Clare's side. If Clare wanted to stay with these warriors then Teresa would also stay with them. And if that meant taking orders from this claymore, she was willing to do it for Clare's sake.

Miria could barely believe her ears. Teresa of the faint smile, a former number one, has submitted to her leadership. Her troubled mind suddenly felt soothed and relieved, as she knew her position was no loner under threat.

"t… thank you Teresa" Miria let out as Teresa returned to her seat with Clare.

After a short while, Teresa and the rest of the ghosts walked to the common room. The common room was a large single room that contained beds along the sides. It was rather empty, and had a militaristic feel to it.

Teresa didn't want to show it, but she was absolutely exhausted after her confrontation with the ghosts. She knew that her body was recently reanimated, and that her strength isn't back to normal. However it was her stamina that surprised her the most. The fight she had with the awaken being in that town was a short one, and she felt fine after that, but the long strenuous battle with the ghosts was demanding for her fragile body. It was so demanding in fact, that she had to use her yoki just to avoid fainting.

Teresa didn't want to show Clare her weakness. She wanted to be strong for her, strong enough to protect her from anything. Her body needed time to return back to normal, and it was taking longer than she thought.

"Teresa where are you going to sleep?" Cynthia asked curiously.

Teresa didn't feel comfortable with sleeping in a room with so many other people. She didn't mind being with Clare of course, but almost her entire life she slept alone.

"I will sleep on a bed next to Clare" Teresa responded.

She turned to face Clare as she added, "Clare, which bed do you sleep in?"

Clare looked up at Teresa with sparkling childish eyes. She opened her mouth to try and say something but closed it shortly after. She was still ecstatically excited about Teresa's arrival and didn't want to leave her side, not even for a moment.

"Teresa… can I sleep with you?" she uttered sounding slightly embarrassed.

The rest of the ghosts didn't even find what Clare just said to be surprising. Clare and Teresa were together at every possible moment. Helen felt like popping out a joke, but as usual Deneve shut her up. They began to move away from the two knowing that it must have been an uncomfortable situation for them to be watched by the entire group.

"But Clare you have your own bed…"

"But I want to sleep with you Teresa, just one more time"

Teresa was half expecting to hear that from Clare. She still viewed her as that little child she knew, and even though Clare was now biologically around the same age as Teresa, it didn't really bother her.

She looked at Clare the same way she looked at her all those years ago. It was strange to see a grown woman act like a child, however Teresa looked beyond her body and only saw that little brown haired child with those beautiful green eyes… her Clare.

"All right Clare" Teresa gently smiled as they warmly embraced each other.

Miria watched as Teresa sat against a bed with Clare hugging her tightly. She was pleased to see Clare so happy…so full of life. It was something Miria thought she would never see from her friend. Miria lay down against her bed as she eyed the two whispering warriors getting ready for the night.

_Clare is so excited to see Teresa, she doesn't even realize how inappropriate her actions are…but are they really inappropriate? None of us have experienced what Clare has experienced with Teresa._

_Is there really something wrong with being next to the person who changed your life?_

_The person who's life you changed?_

_The person you love more than ever?_

_It seems that she completely forgot the fact that she is an adult now… and her mind seems to have reverted back to when she was a child…_

_It will take some time for her…and Teresa to get used to the fact that she is no __longer a little Girl…._


	16. Chapter 16

Here we go chapter 16.

Enjoy people.

Please review.

* * *

Night was already upon them as Raki and Audrey continued to march through the darkness of the forest towards the town of Seral. Rubel had met up with them a few hours after they defeated the Yoma in the town of Amberdy. He had received orders to tell them to head towards a different town to the south. Raki felt a wave of fear pass his spine as he heard the words 'awaken being'. Audrey just smiled happily at the sound of the words, which was probably because she could easily dispatch them.

W_ell she is number three in the organization _Raki thought.

Raki and Audrey were marching for countless hours towards this town located far towards the south, almost to the very edge of the entire world. He was rather surprised by his body's stamina. He and Audrey walked for almost two days straight towards the town with no rest whatsoever. Raki started to like Audrey. She wasn't anything like Clare, in fact she was quite the opposite. Clare was very quiet and almost never smiled, whereas Audrey would keep a smile on her lips throughout the entire trip and talked casually to him.

Raki would often see himself staring at Audrey for no reason. He didn't really know why it was, but he figured it was because she reminded him of his adventures with Clare.

"Raki, we are going to rest for tonight" Audrey smiled as she walked next to him.

"Yeah, I'm getting kind of tired" Raki sighed.

"I suppose that I am also tired" Audrey replied.

The two of them found a suitable spot next to a river to spend the night. It was a small area that was void of trees and covered in soft grass. An almost perfect spot to camp Raki thought as he closed his eyes and heard the soothing sound of the water running next to him.

The soothing noise was suddenly interrupted as Audrey struck her heavy claymore into the ground.

"Raki, I'm going to have a bath in the river" Audrey politely spoke.

"Ok, well, I'll just be here" he replied, as he sat against a tree.

She turned to face him as she removed her shoulder pads and threw them on the soft grass.

"Raki, I cannot let you leave my sight, so that means you have to come with me"

"What!" Raki uttered, almost choking on his own words from the sheer shock of what he heard.

"Trust me Raki, my body is not as desirable as you might think" she added as she started to remove her grey suit revealing her naked shoulders to Raki.

Raki turned his head away as Audrey began undressing in front of him. After a while, he heard footsteps walking against the soft grass. The footsteps then entered the river, making little splashes as she entered the gentle water.

Raki gradually turned his head towards the river and saw Audrey's head sticking out of the water staring at him.

"Don't be shy Raki, the water is good" She giggled.

"Umm no its ok Audrey I promise I wont run away" Raki let out blushing.

Audrey eyed him curiously from the water and let out a smirk.

"Raki, if you don't come in here, then I'll have to go out myself and tie you against a tree"

_Well, I certainly don't want to be tied to a tree… besides, I haven't had a bath in quite a while… _

"Come on in Raki" she playfully laughed.

Raki began taking off his shoulder armour as he noticed Audrey leaning against a rock in the water watching him closely with her head slightly leaning to one side. She had a little smile of satisfaction on her face, and it was making Raki feel uncomfortable.

"Hey Audrey… could you maybe, turn around?"

"What? No… I cannot take my eyes of you Raki" she cheekily replied.

_What can be more humiliating that being watched by a woman as I undress… and by a woman that could my kick ass anytime she wanted to…._

Raki let out a sigh as he took off his suit, and walked into the water, trying to cover himself from the eyes of a peering Audrey.

"There that wasn't too hard was it?" Audrey spoke as she lay her head back against the water, wetting the rest of her hair.

"I guess not…" Raki replied standing awkwardly neck deep in the water next to Audrey.

"Just enjoy the water Raki, we need to leave early in the morning. Even our kind needs rest" she advised.

"What do you mean our kind? I though you said I don't have silver eyes" He snapped as he eyed her still tilting the back of her head into the water.

"No, you do not have silver eyes, but there is definitely a yoki aura being emitted from you, although it is a bit different."

"What do you mean it's different?" Raki let out confused.

"Well I didn't see any scars on your body as you walked into the water"

"So what are you trying to say?" Raki asked baffled.

"I can't explain it, but it appears as if your human body is able to completely suppress the yoma flesh or whatever that is within you. So you are not half-yoma half-human like I, you are still pretty much human… until you begin a fight"

Raki moved away from Audrey after hearing what she had just said. He didn't know what to think. He was happy in a way that he was easily able to fight yoma, but there was another side of him that was scared of what he had become. Although he still felt like his old self, except now he excelled in every possible aspect.

* * *

Raki sat against a tree and Audrey against her claymore that was planted into the ground next to him. Audrey made it clear that she must sleep next to him, so if he decides to run, she would easily stop him. They had spent a while in the river, longer than what Audrey probably planned. She was right though, the water was quite good. Raki turned his face to Audrey and could see her thinking to herself. He wondered why she wasn't trying to sleep, even though it was late, when she suddenly turned to face him.

"Raki, can you tell me about Clare?"

Raki almost fell over from shock after hearing her say that. He pinched himself to check if he wasn't dreaming, and sure enough he wasn't. Raki turned away from Audrey and stared at the gentle water that ran next to him.

_How on earth did she know Clare?_

_Why would she even ask me that?_

"Raki, I heard you mention her name on the way to Amberdy, you said that you wanted to meet her again"

Raki reluctantly turned to face Audrey. She had a face of seriousness as she eyed him closely.

"Well, Clare was someone I knew a long time ago" Raki uttered quietly, not sure if he was comfortable telling Audrey the story.

"Please tell me about her" Audrey asked curiously as she turned her body to face him properly.

Raki let out a sigh as he bent his head towards the ground.

"Well, Clare…saved me from a yoma when I was younger…"

He turned to face Audrey who seemed genuinely fascinated by his words. She had that usual warm smile on her face as she waited patiently for his next words.

"Clare and I travelled for a while until we got separated, and we promised to meet each other again"

"And Clare was a warrior of the organization?" Audrey asked curiously.

"Yes" he replied.

_I wonder if this Clare he speaks of is the same Clare Teresa mentioned._

_It must be… _

"Raki" Audrey let out.

He could see it in her face that she wanted to ask him something important. She had that distinct look of seriousness someone had when they were going to ask something important…or something personal.

"Do you love her?"

A dead silence passed as the two warriors sat close to each other. Even the sound of the slight breeze seemed to overwhelm their ears as the deathly silence persisted. Raki wasn't expecting anything like that to come out of her mouth. He didn't know what to tell her.

"Well… I…" he stuttered.

Audrey let out a smile as she replied smiling "so you do…"

* * *

The next morning Raki woke to see Audrey standing over him wearing her full armour, with her claymore holstered on her back. The sky was a bright orange as the sun began its rise into the sky, indicating that the morning had barely started.

"Wake up Raki, we must make our way towards the town"

Raki turned to his side and tried to brush Audrey away as he let out a big yawn, pretending to sleep. Audrey's usual calm face began to turn slightly angry as she gave him a slight kick with her boot to his side, immediately waking him up.

"Alright I get it" he let out as he rubbed his eyes.

"Don't make me drag you there Raki".

Raki gradually got to his feet and let out another yawn. He rubbed his eyes as he saw Audrey watching him closely.

"Raki"

"Alright alright, I'm putting my armor on" he uttered as he picked up his shoulder pads and slid them over his torso, and placed his blade in the holster on his back.

"Good now let's go" Audrey urged.

"Why are you in such a rush Audrey?" Raki replied confused.

Indeed Audrey was looking concerned. There was something that made her uncomfortable and Raki had no idea what it was. Her usual calm face had changed to a nervous one, and her smile disappeared to a frown. Her eyes are what changed the most, they no longer beamed her usual high spirit, but instead they showed signs of fear.

"Audrey what is it? An awaken being?" Raki let out.

"No worst" she replied

"Then what?" Asked a confused Raki.

"Bandits"

_She was number three in the organization. She easily dispatches yoma and awaken beings, yet she was afraid of humans?_

As they were about to leave, Raki could hear a twig break off into the distance. Indeed he couldn't sense any yoki in the area around them, so it couldn't be a yoma or an awaken being. Eventually he heard the sound of a few men grunting something to each other behind the bushes.

"Lets go now Raki" Audrey uttered with fear written all over her face.

But it was too late.

The men had surrounded the two warriors, standing around them in a large circle. Raki and Audrey were entrapped within a wall of men and there was nowhere left to run. Audrey stood her ground, hiding back her fear of the men while they eyed her closely. Raki didn't like this situation, he stood firmly next to Audrey with a brave face.

"Hey there sugarplums" one of the men announced as he made his way towards Audrey.

Audrey nervously replied" There is an awakend being in the town of…." But was silenced as the man placed a finger on her lips.

"You're not going to tell anybody about this now are you? Little monster?... we know that you guys are forbidden to kill us, and if you run away we'll just kill someone and blame it on you…. We have quite a good description of you…"

He paused for a second as he ran his hand through her long hair. He let out a wicked grin as he continued:

"We can see you have this boy with you… the organization would immediately know it was you when we told them about the pretty long haired warrior with the young boy…"

"Don't worry baby, you'll enjoy it" another man hissed as the gang of men began walking closer towards Raki and Audrey.

Tears ran down Audrey's face as she looked into the lustful eyes of the man who began stroking her cheek with his cold hand.

"Oh you poor poor little girl… crying like that, and look at the way your knees are shaking… you must have had terrible experiences in the past… but don't worry, I assure you… we'll treat you much better" he coldly hissed.

"Don't you dare touch her!" Raki roared as he noticed tears fall from Audrey's eyes. He was disgusted seeing these men treat Audrey like this. They took advantage of the organizations rules to violate her, and doing so when they clearly saw how indescribably frightened she was. He didn't know why she didn't just run away, but it seemed that she was completely paralyzed from fear.

_Raki… _

"You better get lost kid, do you really want to get hurt? Look around you… there's fifteen of us and one of you… besides she's a silver eyed witch, and a gorgeous one too" he wickedly grinned.

Raki let out a confident smirk as he continued to stare at the man.

"I too have yoma flesh within me… and as far as I know, I don't have an official rank… which means, I am not really a warrior like her… and I can kill you guys anytime I feel like it."

_Raki? What are you going to do?_

The man let out a cold chuckle, and the rest soon followed suit. Eventually a mad roar of mocking laughter surrounded Raki, but he didn't feel intimidated one bit. He was determined to use his new body to protect Audrey.

"You think you can beat us all? Common kid, give us your best shot"

"If you say so"

Raki turned to face Audrey as he let out a brave smile, trying to reassure his troubled comrade. Her face was full of shock and…relief. He had never seen Audrey so frightened of something before.

"Audrey let me handle them" he announced to the teary warrior.

Raki returned his gaze to the bandit as his face changed from that cheerful brave smile to a face of determination and hatred.

_Can I bring myself to kill these guys?_

_Can I forgive them for being so cruel to Audrey, when they clearly saw that she was trembling from fear?_

_Do they deserve to live?_

_If I kill them, Audrey will be saved…_

_If I don't kill them, then they will lie to the organization about her killing humans… and she herself will be hunted down…_

_No… I will not kill these guys…I am not like that…I will protect Audrey from these guys and from the organization._

_Protect her like I would protect Clare…_

Immediately Raki pulled out his claymore and with blinding speed, smashed the blunt side of his blade against the bandit's head knocking him hard against the ground before the other men could even make a sudden move.

As the other men stood warily around Raki, Audrey was astonished to see a pair of golden eyes and an evil monstrous grin on his face. He looked almost exactly like a claymore when they released their yoma aura. His face was slightly distorted, and his very bones began to reform while thick veins appeared on the surface of his skin.

The men began to back off from fear, but Raki dashed towards them with unbelievable speed knocking them out one by one. Raki was moving so quickly, that even Audrey could barely keep track of him, and he defeated all fourteen men in mere seconds.

As they lay unconscious on the ground beneath his feet, Raki's rage began to die down and his face reverted back to it's original form. He was blinded with fury during that fight, but amazingly he knew exactly what he was doing, and was in total control of his actions.

_Why?_

_Why would he do this for me?_

_Why would he risk himself for me?_

_I am nothing to him…_

Audrey stood in silence wide eyed, totally dumbfounded by what Raki has done. He had demolished the men, not even giving them a chance. She was frightened of him for a moment, but then noticed that behind that monstrous face, was that sweet young man she knew.

Raki turned to face Audrey and walked towards her dropping his claymore along the way.

"Audrey are you alright?" he asked looking concerned.

Audrey's face remained speechless as he stared into her watery eyes. The two stood there, eyeing each other for a short moment when suddenly to Raki's surprise, Audrey moved one of her hands behind his head and pushed his lips onto her own. Raki felt the warmness of Audrey's moist lips drenched in her salty tears as the two shared a passionate kiss by the riverside. When the moment was over, Audrey slowly pulled away from Raki and locked her eyes onto his.

"T…thank you…for stopping…them."

Raki hugged the emotional Audrey tightly as she began to cry on his shoulder. He knew that Audrey must have had some terrible experiences with men in the past. He immediately saw it when she was paralyzed from fear and began to cry as the man touched her.

As he held the fragile Audrey in his arms, he felt her body tremble and heard her crying loudly as she rested her head against his shoulder. Her warm tears ran down his armor and onto his skin as she continued to sob in his arms. Raki has never seen anyone so frightened in his entire life, and he knew that Audrey needed someone to hold on to.

"Why would you do that for me?" Audrey mumbled through her tears as she rested her head against his shoulder.

"How could I let them do that to you?" He replied, holding the trembling warrior tightly.

"But why do you care so much…about others?…"

"Because I want to protect those who cannot defend themselves" he replied gently as the two warriors held each other tightly by the riverside.

_Poor girl…she must be distraught…._

_So traumatized by a past experience…._

_Paralyzed from fear…_

_I will always be there when you need me._

_Audrey… _

* * *

Next chapter should be up within 24 hours. Stay tuned.

Please review and tell me what you think of this chapter.


	17. Chapter 17

Teresa opened her eyes to see a wooden roof as she lay against her soft bed. The sun shined in through the small window, lighting up the entire room and reflecting off the white sheets of her bed. The light was blinding to Teresa's sensitive eyes, forcing her to cover them with her hands. She turned her face to the left and saw Clare fast asleep as she rested her head on their soft pillow.

_Look at her…she sleeps like a little child_ Teresa lightly chuckled to herself.

Teresa didn't want to wake Clare up, so she cautiously sat up against the side of the bed making sure she didn't wake Clare.

_Once again I wake up late…_

She looked around the room and saw that everyone had already woken up. All the beds were empty and the sheets lay untidily against them. Teresa got to her feet, and sneaked out the room giving one last glance at Clare as she walked down the hallway towards the main room.

As she approached the room, she could hear the others chatting among themselves. Eventually, she reached the end of the hallway and saw the others look directly at her. They had suddenly stopped talking, and a dead awkward silenced loomed around the room. They looked as if they wanted to say something to break the silence but none of them knew what to say.

"Good morning Teresa did you sleep well?" the captain asked breaking the silence.

"Thank you…I slept alright" she replied.

"Is Clare still asleep?" Deneve asked as she sat with Helen against a table.

"Yes she is" Teresa replied.

This was a little awkward for Teresa. She still didn't know their names and she didn't know what to do as they all stared at her. At this point she wished that she had stayed in bed with Clare and just waited till she woke, so something like this wouldn't happen. She could see that the others were a little uncomfortable with her, which was understandable.

"Teresa come sit with us, we are leaving for the training grounds soon" Miria added.

As Teresa began to walk towards Miria's table, the others had continued to chat amongst each other finally breaking the awkward silence. Teresa sat next to Miria on her lone table as the two eyed each other closely.

"Teresa I don't think you know our names… am I right?"

"That is true" she replied.

Miria stood up from her seat: "I am Miria as you probably already know, this is Helen, Deneve, Cynthia, Tabitha, Uma, Galatea, Miata and Clarice. Miria spoke as she pointed to each ghost.

She sat back down on her chair as she returned her gaze to Teresa.

"We are ghosts of the warriors from seven years ago, which Clare probably already mentioned as well"

Miria paused for a moment as she continued: "I saw the way you defeated that awaken being in the town to the Northeast…it was most impressive."

"It was nothing" Teresa added.

"Well, I would like to see what you are fully capable of when we arrive at the training ground. It is important for me to know"

At the sound of this, the room once again turned into a dead silence as the ghosts turned to face the two warriors closely. Miria didn't seem to mind that her conversation was being eavesdropped, she was completely fascinated by Teresa and she knew the rest were also. They waited in silence for the former number one's response.

With all eyes on Teresa, she replied smiling: "trust me, you don't want to see what I am fully capable of."

Changing the subject, Galatea announced from a near table "Do you feel better Teresa? Yesterday I could sense how exhausted you were from our fight."

At the sound of Galatea's words, Teresa began to feel a little nervous. She thought that she hid her exhausted state very well yesterday, however it seems the blind one is very perceptive even though she has no eyes.

"We're sorry about yesterday Teresa" Cynthia added from the same table, looking concerned.

Teresa bent her head lower towards the table as she placed one of her hands on her forehead and spoke:

"I feel better yes"

"Wait wait… your telling me…she obliterated us while she wasn't even properly fighting back… and she was exhausted?" Helen yelled as the silence returned one again.

"I hope I didn't hurt you guys too much" Teresa uttered breaking the silence.

Tabitha got to her feet and walked towards Miria. She whispered something to her ear and Miria gave a nod of approval.

"Teresa we have an outfit like ours that we can give you, if you want to wear it" Tabitha noted.

"Alright show me it"

Tabitha opened a small compartment on the wall next to Miria and pulled out a black suit.

"Would you like me to help you put it on?" Tabitha questioned.

"Trust me Teresa you don't want her 'help'" Helen teased with a smirk on her face.

"Hey shut up Helen" Tabitha yelled.

Miria made a face palm as the two warriors began arguing amongst each other. She turned to a confused Teresa as she spoke:

"That suit isn't difficult to put on, there is a room you can change in back down the hallway."

"Thank you"

After a short while Teresa returned wearing the black suit Tabitha handed to her. For almost all her life, Teresa wore the same dull grey suit which she thought was comfortable, but after wearing this suit she realized just how good it felt to wear something else. It was a perfect fit against her body, not too tight or to lose, and made her feel…free. Free from the shackles of the organization. It was like a breath of fresh air that made her feel like a whole new person able to make her own decisions and live her own life.

The rest of the ghosts turned to face her and gave a nod of approval.

"It suits you Teresa" Tabitha noted.

"You look good in it" added Cynthia.

Teresa couldn't help but let out a smile of happiness as she sat down next to Miria.

Shortly after, the ghosts' conversations ended when they noticed Clare appear at the door. She was pleased to see Teresa wearing clothes like everyone else and sitting with her friends…it genuinely made her feel happy. She had a smile on her face as she walked towards Teresa.

"Good morning sleepyhead" Teresa gently spoke as Clare sat next to her.

"Good morning Teresa" she replied as she rubbed her sleepy eyes.

After a short conversation with each other, Miria announced as she stood up from her table:

"Get ready, we are leaving for the training grounds"

It was a beautiful day as the ghosts strolled towards their infamous training grounds. There were no clouds to be seen in the sky, and the sun's rays beamed powerfully over the lands. The air was warm and the wind refreshing, as a gentle breeze passed the eleven warriors. Teresa had been talking about how comfortable her new suit was with Clare while the others talked about how good she looked in it. Helen and Tabitha were arguing over some comment Helen made, while Miria walked silently in front of her group.

As they moved through the thick jungle of bushes and leaves, they entered their secret oasis in all its natural glory.

Miria turned to face her party as she announced:

"Ok now that we have a new member, it is important that I know what she could bring into our group."

She paused for a moment as she continued: " the rest of you please go train amongst yourselves as I speak to Teresa."

"Hey no way!" Helen yelled. "We all want to see what Teresa can do"

"And just what do you propose Helen? You want to fight Teresa?" Deneve asked mockingly.

"No… I say we get split into two teams…. Team Miria and Team Teresa….Team Teresa consists of….well Teresa and Team Miria consists of all of us."

"That's a stupid idea" Cynthia remarked.

"You have a better idea?" Helen retorted.

"I have an idea if it's all right with you Miria" Teresa added to the surprise of everyone.

"Please continue" Miria replied

"I will fight with a slight handicap"

"What slight handicap?" Miria asked baffled.

"I will not use my eyes or my hands."

The rest of the ghosts almost fell over from shock as they heard that. They knew that Teresa was tough, but even they thought she was crazy to fight them with such a severe handicap.

"Well…if you think you can manage" Miria added.

"Alright then Teresa, I'll be your opponent" Helen confidently boasted as she pulled her claymore from her back holster.

"Just you?" Teresa asked looking surprised. "I actually wanted a challenge…"

"Hey I'm more than a challenge for you in this fight" she remarked.

"Teresa…" Clare whimpered as she turned to face the wavy haired warrior looking concerned.

Teresa turned to her and brushed her hand gently against Clare's cheek as she smiled: "don't worry Clare, I'll be fine…I promise"

Miria and the rest began walking towards the meeting tree in the middle of the training ground while Clare stayed behind eyeing Teresa.

"Clare are you coming?" Miria announced.

"y…yes" Clare replied to her captain as she reluctantly followed her.

As the rest of the ghost made their way towards the tree, Teresa and Helen eyed each other closely.

"I'll know if you peak" Helen assured.

"I don't have to peek" Teresa replied confidently as she continued to beam her smile.

"Why do you keep smiling like that? Your going to fight me using no arms and not even using your eyes!"

"It's just what I do" Teresa spoke as she pulled her claymore from its holster and threw it against the soft grass.

"So what do you think Miria?" Cynthia asked her captain as they stood around the meeting tree watching Teresa and Helen stand in front of each other in the distance.

"I think Helen is making a big mistake" she replied watching the two closely.

Clare listened briefly to what they said, then turned her head back to where Teresa was standing confidently in front of Helen.

_Teresa…I hope you'll be all right…._

The ghosts saw Teresa place her arms behind her back as Helen charged towards a blind Teresa. Teresa effortlessly evaded all of Helen's rushed and uncoordinated attacks with grace, while not even fighting back. Teresa was much to quick for Helen and the rest knew it.

"Teresa can see perfectly" Galatea wisely informed.

The rest looked over at the blind warrior as she watched Teresa dodge blow after blow of Helen's attacks.

"Teresa can feel Helen's yoki as she moves her body… she doesn't even need her eyes to fight"

The ghosts returned their gaze back to the fight as they saw Teresa plant her boot into Helen's face as she fell to the ground kicking dust into the air.

"Teresa is only toying with her… She is like no other warrior… she is in her own league" Galatea advised.

Miria already knew that Teresa was powerful, and that she would defeat Helen. But even she didn't think that Teresa could defeat Helen so effortlessly with such a handicap.

_This Teresa is truly a monster in combat…_

_We're just lucky she's on our side…_

_If she wanted to, she could effortlessly kill us all._

_Now I know what she's capable off._

_But is she strong enough to defeat numbers one and two? Alicia and Beth?_

"I've seen enough" Miria noted.

"Mama I wanna play too!" Miata childishly announced looking up at Clarice.

"No… I don't want you to fight her, she's too strong for you Miata." Clarice replied.

"I want to fight her! I want to fight her! I want to have fun!" the child yelled frantically.

"Miata…"

"Thank you mama!" She frantically replied as she began to dash towards Teresa pulling out her sword.

"Miata wait! Where are you going!" Clarice roared as the rest of the ghosts watched in shock.

"Your attacks are slow and predictable… and you use more yoki than the others… I could easily predict your attacks"

Helen got to her feet as she held her bleeding nose. She dusted herself off with her free arm as she looked over at Teresa.

"I still can't believe it"

"I told you didn't I?" Teresa smirked.

Teresa opened her eyes and noticed that little girl…Miata run towards her with her blade drawn.

_Hmm what does she want?_

She walked over to her blade and picked it up as Miata rapidly approached her. Teresa stood her ground confidently waiting for her arrival as she held her blade against the ground smiling.

Miata dashed towards Teresa as she swung her blade against the wavy haired warrior who immediately vanished from sight. Miata frantically looked around herself trying to locate Teresa but she was nowhere in to be found.

"You are good little girl" she could hear a faint voice whisper in the winds around her.

Miata swung her blade behind her as she noticed Teresa suddenly appear there. Teresa grabbed the child's blade with one arm as she stared into the eyes of the small warrior. As hard as Miata tried, she couldn't overpower Teresa's grip as she stood there smiling at Miata.

"Oh, I'm sorry…am I too strong for you?" Teresa smirked.

"mama mama"

Miata let go of her blade as she thrusted her right foot towards Teresa but she was too quick. Teresa evaded her kick as she let go of Miata's blade and flew into the air with the wind rushing past her face.

"Miata that's enough!" Miria yelled as she ghosted in front of the young child in an attempt to stop the fight.

Miata glanced up at Miria, looking as if she was going to cry, when suddenly a huge smile appeared on her lips as she watched Teresa gently land on the ground.

"I like you!" she small child yelled from excitement.

"What?" Miria asked baffled as she turned to face Teresa.

"She is strong… fun to fight" the child added.

"Miata!" Clarice yelled as she frantically ran towards her and swapped her hands around her child.

"What were you thinking?" she added, holding her tightly.

"I don't think she was" Deneve noted.

Teresa approached the little girl with a warm smile on her face. She placed her hand on Miata's head when suddenly to Teresa's surprise, Miata wrapped her hands around her leg tightly.

"You are strong!" the little girl cheerfully announced as she held Teresa.

"I try to be" Teresa replied still looking surprised.

"I'm so sorry Teresa!" Clarice apologized as she removed Miata from Teresa.

"Nurture her well…this Childs latent potential is monstrous… she very well could surpass me one day " Teresa spoke wisely to Clarice.

The rest of the ghosts glanced at that little girl who seemed slightly embarrassed by the sudden attention as she held Clarice tightly.

"Teresa… can you train me to be strong like you?" asked Clare out of the blue.

Teresa looked into her eyes and let out a light smile. She knew that Clare would eventually ask her that question.

"Alright Clare"

Miria announced: "Ok everyone find your own partner and begin your own training."

The rest of the ghosts however didn't even face their captain as they eyed Teresa and Clare.

"No way… we wanna see Clare fight Teresa" Helen snapped.

"Sorry Miria, but even I have to say that I can't miss this" added Deneve.

Teresa looked over at the ghosts, then back at Clare who stood in front of her. Teresa was still not used to the fact that Clare was as tall as her now. Instead of looking down towards the ground at her small childish face, she now stares at a woman who is roughly of her height.

The rest of the ghosts began to back off as the two warriors prepared for a friendly match.

"Clare… you know I cant bring myself to attack you, but I want you to go all out against me."

"Alright Teresa…" Clare responded unconfidently from a distance away as she pulled out her claymore and braced herself in attack position.

"Come at me Clare"

Clare ran towards Teresa and swung her claymore towards her body, but her strike was easily parried.

"Clare… I said all out"

Clare lowered her claymore and looked worriedly into her eyes. Teresa could see that Clare didn't want to attack her with all her might, but it was the only way for her to teach Clare properly.

"Don't worry Clare… I'll be fine" Teresa reassured with a smile.

Clare began to back of slowly once again with her eyes fixed on to Teresa's.

"Ok Teresa, I'm going to attack you all out"

After a moments hesitation, Clare leapt towards Teresa at a greater speed and swung her Claymore much more cleverly than before.

_Good_

_Much better Clare…_

_You wield that blade well_

_I am quite proud…_

"Clare" Teresa announced as she parried her attacks. "When you attacked me the other day, I noticed that you let rage take over your body, and you used your yoki as your strength"

The two continued their friendly match as Teresa continued:

"Since you have my flesh and blood in you, it is reasonable to say that your abilities should be comparable to mine, and you should be able to fight using my particular technique"

Clare then stopped her attacks as she processed what Teresa has just mentioned.

"I will teach you how to properly anticipate an opponents attack, while not releasing your own yoki… and do it so well that you will not even require the use of your eyes…"

Please review. I love reading your reviews.

gives me inspiration ; )


	18. Chapter 18

Teresa had been training Clare for the past few hours as the others watched from the meeting tree in amazement. Even though Teresa was only defending herself, it seemed like a full-fledged fight, as Clare desperately tried to pass Teresa's iron defenses. A few times, the ghosts swore they noticed Teresa struggle to stop a few of Clare's clever blows, however they didn't know if Teresa only did so to improve Clare's morale, or if she really did struggle to defend them. The two warriors were constantly on the move, as Clare's aggressive offensive forced Teresa to step backwards, and sometimes even leap out the way of her swift strikes.

When the battle first began, Clare deliberately didn't give it her all due to the fear of hurting Teresa. But as the hours dragged on, they noticed their comrade finally coming out of her shell. They could see the frustration in her face, as blow after blow was mockingly blocked by the wavy haired warrior, which only fueled her desperation to land a strike. The others could see that Clare was trying to impress Teresa, as she frequently released a wind cutter against her. Clare's wind cutter had been getting more and more effective as the fight progressed, sometimes even forcing Teresa to leap out of the way instead of stopping the onslaught of blades as she has been doing so before.

"That's strange, I'm sure by now Clare would have used her yoki, but I don't sense anything from her" Deneve noted.

"Well, I may leak the most yoki out of all of us, but Clare is the most likely to loose control of herself" Helen added.

Suddenly Galatea wisely informed: "Teresa is trying to teach Clare to fight without her yoki, and read her opponents flow instead"

"But I thought she could already do that" Asked Miria

"Yes, but not to the extent of Teresa and I" Galatea replied.

"Good luck teaching Clare such control…" Helen smirked.

"It should be possible seeing as Clare has part of Teresa's flesh within her"

"But doesn't that mean?..." Tabitha expressed.

"yes… Clare and Teresa can read each other's yoki effortlessly… since they are almost identical… which means…. The victor will always be the one with the greater skill."

"and that would be Teresa…" Helen added.

"it's funny…" Cynthia noted.

"what do you mean?" Deneve replied.

"Teresa is so strong… yet if you think about it, she has far less experience than us"

The others suddenly realized that Cynthia was right. They never noticed that obvious fact. Claymores usually serve the organization for a few years until they are either killed or disposed of. Each of the ghosts had at least three years of experience in the organization, plus the seven years in the north, while Teresa only had her three or so years in the organization.

"Teresa is just one freak warrior" Helen added.

Suddenly, the ghosts saw Clare collapse to her knees as she dropped her claymore. She began to shake from exhaustion as a drench of sweat poured off her face and onto the grass. They knew that Clare had reached her physical limit, constantly doing the same action over and over for many hours.

They could see Teresa sheath her claymore as she bent over to help Clare. She picked her up and began to walk towards the ghosts who sat underneath the meeting Tree.

"Clare… I told you not to force yourself…look at yourself now…." they all heard Teresa say as she approached them.

"don't even bother Teresa…that girl won't listen to anyone when she's in a fight" Helen expressed as Teresa placed Clare gently against the tree trunk.

"oh…I know all to well just how stubborn Clare can be" Teresa sighed as she watched her fall asleep against the tree.

"She really overdid it this time…" Deneve added.

Teresa took a deep breath of the fresh air as she began to sit on the soft grass beneath her feet, joining the rest of the ghosts.

"how are you feeling Teresa…that fight must have been demanding on your body" Galatea questioned.

Teresa took another deep breath, filling her panting lungs. Indeed she was a little tired, and even began to sweat a little from the hours of defending herself. But still, she was rather surprised how fast her stamina regenerated from yesterday.

"I'm fine" she replied.

"Hey Teresa would you like an apple?" Helen asked playfully.

"I suppose" she replied.

Helen turned to reach for something behind her and placed her hand in a small container, pulling out a shiny red apple. She threw it to Teresa who grabbed it and took a small bite.

"I just love the way they taste" Helen remarked with a cheeky smile.

"Helen she doesn't care" Deneve replied coldly.

"and how do you know!" she scolded back.

"because we don't care, so what makes you think that she will?"

"enough!" Miria commanded.

The rest of the ghosts turned to face their captain, except Teresa who took another small bite of her apple while watching Clare peacefully sleep in front of her against the tree trunk.

"this is not how I would like you guys to act around Teresa… I'm sure she wants some peace and quiet."

Teresa took another deep breath as she made herself more comfortable against the ground.

"I want you guys to explain to me everything about Clare"

The rest of the ghosts immediately focused their attention of Teresa. She had a commanding aura around her, an aura that demanded to be listened to. They could tell that she wanted to know something deeply about Clare, something only they would know.

"I know Clare well enough to know that she probably hides some things from me, I want you guys to tell me everything"

Scratching her head Helen replied "well… what do you want to know?"

"everything"

After a moment of silence, Deneve notified "well Clare was ranked forty-seven among the warriors…"

Teresa gave a slight nod of approval to indicate for her to continue.

"Me, Miria, Helen and Clare were assigned together to defeat a male awakened being who almost killed us all, if it wasn't for Clare…."

"and I presume the organization sent you guys there to die?" Teresa widely noted.

"Teresa there is something you should know about me, Helen, Deneve and Clare…" Miria revealed as she interrupted Deneve.

Teresa began to look curious as she eyed Miria closely.

"all four of us… are partially awakened".

"what!" Teresa scolded with a serious look of concern on her face as she spat out the piece of apple she was chewing on. This was the first time the ghosts had seen Teresa angry as she eyed their captain furiously.

"I said partially awakened…. Please let me continue…" Miria calmly spoke.

"you better continue" Teresa warned as she looked over at Clare, then back at Miria furiously.

"Clare told us, that she reached her limit when she fought a yoma… but she managed to return back to normal… me, Helen and Deneve all had similar experiences, and we managed to suppress our yoki once we reached over 80%... avoiding a complete awakening"

Teresa was furious. She couldn't stand the idea of her Clare being so close to awakening…her Clare being so close to being a monster. At this point, she felt like storming away from the tree and being left alone to her thoughts. But her curiosity got the better of her as she held her anger and disgust back.

"tell me… more about this partial awakening" Teresa demanded.

Miria seemed to ponder her next words for a while. The last thing she wanted to do was to tell Teresa something that would make her even more furious.

"It is stable… we have been partially awakened for about seven years… it allows greater control over our yoki than ever before."

"hey don't worry Teresa…" Cynthia added.

"don't tell me not to worry! Clare is one step closer to becoming an awakened being!" She wailed furiously at Cynthia who began to look frightened.

"Teresa calm down… it is stable" Miria noted.

Teresa immediately stood up and stormed away from the tree walking towards the small lake, clenching her fists and stomping her boots into the soft ground.

"ok… well that didn't go so well" Helen sighed.

"actually…I'm surprised how well Teresa took it" Miria replied as she watched the wavy haired warrior standing next to the lake with her arms crossed, staring furiously into the empty sky as the wind gently played with her hair.

After a short while, the blinding rays of the sun filled Clare's eyes as she sluggishly began to open them. She could see her party sitting around her chatting amongst themselves as she tried to locate a wavy haired warrior.

"oh Clare your awake" she could hear from a figure around her.

Clare rubbed her eyes as she gradually began to sit up from the tree trunk. She immediately realized that Teresa was not among the warriors that sat around her, as she turned her head from side to side in an effort to locate her. She finally saw a figure standing against the lakeside and recognized her as Teresa.

"we told her" Miria spoke.

"told her what?" Clare replied sleepily.

"that we're partially awakened…" Helen finished.

Clare was hoping that Teresa would never find out. She knew that Teresa wouldn't understand. Teresa never wanted Clare to be a warrior like her, she wanted her to live a human life, and it must have broken Teresa's heart for her to hear of such a thing.

"Clare…can you please talk to her…she wouldn't listen to us" Miria plead.

"I'll try" Clare replied sadly.

"good, and while you do, it is time for the rest of us to continue training…we have been slacking off for far too long…" Miria added.

Clare gave a slight nod as she slowly got to her feet and began walking towards Teresa, as the rest moved away in a different direction.

Teresa was angry with Clare for not telling her the truth…but most of all, she was angry with herself for leaving Clare and allowing all this to happen. If she wouldn't have let her guard down against Priscilla, she would have been alive and Clare could have lived on as a human. She couldn't believe that Clare would keep such a secret from her. She accepted Clare being half human half yoma like herself, but the fact that she was one step closer to being an awaken being made her blood boil. She dreaded the thought of Clare awakening and becoming a monster like Priscilla. She didn't know what she would do if that were to happen… and she didn't want to think about it.

"Teresa…"she could hear a soft voice whisper behind her.

She knew that the voice was Clare's. Teresa was too upset to face her, and instead continued to stare at the soothing water that helped calm her troubled mind.

A sudden gust of wind passed through the fields around them as Teresa revealed: "Clare…why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't think that you'd understand Teresa…I'm sorry"

a brief moment of silence passed as Clare stood behind Teresa nervously awaiting her response.

"Clare…you know how important you are to me…this is something I should have known…"

"I'm sorry Teresa…"

Suddenly Teresa scolded: "Stop saying you're sorry Clare!"

It was a response Clare was never expecting.

Clare was traumatized hearing Teresa answer her like that. This was the first time Teresa had ever raised her voice on her. Teresa's harsh voice felt like a cold stake being struck into Clare's heart, filling her mind with a number of strange emotions. For the first time ever, She felt uncomfortable with Teresa, and it made her feel worthless and pathetic. She felt as if she betrayed Teresa, betrayed the love they shared, and the happiness the found in each other's lives.

"Teresa…"

"Clare…just tell me if you feel fine…that's all I need to hear"

"I feel fine Teresa…I feel no different than before" Clare whimpered.

Teresa stood there in silence with the wind gently playing with her long wavy hair, as she softly uttered: "Go back to your friends Clare…I would like some time alone"

After a moments hesitation, Clare reluctantly faced away from Teresa and moved towards her comrades. After only a few steps, Clare took one last look at Teresa.

_I am truly sorry Teresa…I should have told you…_

_This is something you never would have wanted…_

The other's remained silent as they saw Clare approach them with a gloomy face and almost teary eyes. They knew that the situation wasn't good when Teresa didn't even turn to face Clare as they spoke.

"Clare…" Miria spoke concernedly as Clare stood in front of them silently. She began to raise her lowered face as the rest of them noticed a tear develop in her eye. Miria walked over to her and comforted her emotional comrade.

Teresa immediately sensed that something was wrong. She turned her face around and noticed Clare embracing Miria tightly a little distance away. Teresa felt her very soul being ripped out of her body, and her blood turn ice cold from the shock and guilt of seeing Clare in tears. She was so furious with her half awakened state, that she almost forgot how Clare looked up to her, how strongly she trusted her. Teresa felt as if she betrayed Clare's trust by shutting her off, and it pained her greatly knowing that it was because of her that Clare was in tears.

_I made Clare cry…_

_What have I done…_

_I hate myself for this…_

_I'm so sorry Clare._

Teresa collapsed to her knees as she buried her face into the ground, cursing her very existence. She let out a roar of anger, slamming the ground with both her hands with such force, the very ground shook from the tremor causing a few leaves to fall from the nearby tree. The others immediately turned to face the direction of the colossal blow, as Teresa noticed Clare look at her with her teary eyes.

_Please forgive me Clare_

Teresa got to her feet and ran as fast as she could towards the trees surrounding the oasis. She ran so fast, that a loud sonic boom could be heard as her sudden acceleration smashed her body into the air.

The rest of the ghosts couldn't believe their eyes when they felt the very earth beneath their feet shake from the colossal impact of Teresa's arms against the ground. They watched in amazement as the furious wavy haired warrior escaped from their view in mere seconds and disappearing into the trees. Clare however didn't respond to Teresa's amazing strength or agility. The only thing that was playing in her mind was the way Teresa yelled at her with such a harsh tone. But Clare knew that it was her fault…she knew that Teresa loved her deeply, and was only afraid for her wellbeing. She hated herself for keeping such a thing from Teresa. She knew that Teresa was already unhappy about her becoming half human half yoma…but this half awakened state was the straw that broke the camels back.

"I only hope she isn't going to do anything foolish" Galatea announced.

"like what? Attempt to take down the organization herself?" Helen replied.

"If Teresa wanted to…I think she may have a chance…." Galatea added.

The rest of the ghosts turned their attention to the blind warrior.

"I think what we saw, was only a taste of Teresa's true fury…"

Clare let herself go from her embrace with Miria, wiping her teary eyes as she noticed all the ghosts focus on her. She could see that they wanted to say something to reassure her… but not even Miria could find the proper words. Truth be told, there were no words in existence that could be used to make Clare feel better. Teresa needed time to adjust to Clare's half awakened state. When Clare first learned of her half awakened state, she was shocked and afraid of it…but she could only imagine how painful it must have been for Teresa to hear.

Eventually Miria was brave enough to break the silence: "Clare…it is quite a shock to hear what she just did…it will take some time for her to adjust."

Helen naively questioned: "besides…its not really a big deal is it? I mean we look and feel fine so what's the big problem?" as she shrugging her shoulders.

"you're an idiot you know that?" Deneve coldly snapped.

"Hey what are you talking about!" Helen yelled back.

Miria wisely added: "Since Teresa was a former number one…she was assigned to destroy many awakened beings…and we mustn't forget that she was killed by one… and the thought of Clare…the person who changed her life, who she cares for most deeply, suddenly turning into one truly terrifies her."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19 guys.

Please review and enjoy.

* * *

Teresa stood on top of a large hill overlooking the land around her. It didn't contain fresh green grass, or the pretty colorful flowers the area around the training ground had. Instead, it seemed void of life and was covered in dead yellow grass, leafless trees and a dried up riverbed.

She was running towards the east for a while now, and stopped on top of this hill to collect her thoughts. As she gazed upon the land around her, it seemed to filter out the impurities in her troubled mind. She originally wanted to destroy the organization, kill every last member and anyone who stood in her way. But as her mind began to calm down, her thoughts became clearer.

It wasn't a wise idea for her to attack the organization.

In fact it was a foolish idea.

Not only would she unnecessarily expose herself to them, she didn't have a clue about their current situation. The only warrior she knew of was Audrey, and had no clue as to the powers of numbers one and two. Only a fool would blindly attack an enemy without any intelligence on them.

_What would I do if I encounter somebody stronger than myself?_

_I find it difficult to even think about…but it could be a possibility._

_What would Clare do if I never came back…_

_I won't leave Clare again…I promised her that I would never leave her again. If I were killed then she would never forgive me. _

_What was I thinking?_

_What was I planning to do once I arrived there?_

_Stroll in and slice everyone's head off?_

_And what if I was captured once again?_

_I wouldn't live with myself._

Teresa let out a sigh as she sat against a rather large rock next to her. She rested her head on both her hands, running her fingers through her hair as she pondered her next course of action. She regretted ever running away from the ghosts and leaving Clare. Teresa was angry with herself for acting the way she did. There was nothing that could be done to reverse Clare's half awakening so she should have been more understanding. Her hatred for awakened beings…and Priscilla had gotten the better of her.

Only now does she realize what she was doing, and what she had done.

_I need to get back to Clare…_

_I need to apologize to her…_

_I don't care if she's half awakened._

_To me she's still that little girl that taught me what it was to be human._

Teresa felt tears develop in her eyes as she thought of Clare.

_She's the one who taught me that tears can flow….even from these silver eyes. _

The sun was beginning to set as a brilliant orange filled the sky around her. She lifted her head and looked over to the direction of the ghosts and gradually got to her feet as she clenched her fists tightly.

_Please forgive me Clare… it'll take a little longer for me to return seeing as I am out of breath from running…_

* * *

Ever since the bandits ambushed them near that lake, Raki noticed Audrey acting different towards him. She no longer acted as his caretaker, but instead looked up at him with eyes of adoration. He would often see her glancing at him, and shyly turning away when she noticed him do so. The beautiful long haired warrior has been walking awkwardly close to him, as if she was entranced by his presence. She would let out a blush when one of them bumped into each other, accompanied by an awkward giggle as she made some space between them.

As they walked through the wavy plain lands heading for the town of Seral to the south, Raki turned to face Audrey, and could see that little cheerful smile on her gentle face as she walked by him gracefully. He was pleased to see her act so happy…so human. When Raki first met Audrey, she seemed like a high spirited warrior at first, but there was that deep sadness that he felt in her heart, sadness that longed for recognition and love.

Raki however understood exactly how she felt. He was the same when Clare saved him in his hometown. When the yoma was about to kill him, Clare appeared from nowhere and saved his life. Clare was the only one who accepted his existence, accepted him for who he was when no body else would. That is why he found himself attached to her, his savior and friend.

The day was coming to an end as the sun was setting, hidden behind a rather large hill off to the distance. The air was noticeably getting cooler, as darkness began to set hold around them.

"We should probably stop to camp now" Audrey announced.

"But…we've only been walking for a few hours. Last time we walked for almost two days." Raki replied confused.

She turned to face him smiling: "yes, but I don't feel like walking that much today"

"Ok… so where do we set camp?"

Audrey began to scan the area around them for a suitable place to camp. The area was filled with small wavy hills covered in fresh green grass and flowers but contained no signs of trees. There was a small stream they have been following to their right, which Raki probably figured would be the best place to rest against.

"That stream looks like a good place to rest, what do you think Raki?"

"Yeah, I guess it is" he answered, still amazed at how much she has changed.

Audrey always acted rather nice to him, but when it came to decision making, his opinion meant nothing to her. She would order him around, using her gentle voice to disguise her seriousness. He remembers one time when he made the mistake of refusing to listen to one of her orders. He was stunned when the seemingly gentle warrior suddenly grabbed him by the throat and rammed him against the nearest tree, reminding him that she was in charge, while still beaming her warm smile. However all this has changed, ever since Raki saved her from those bandits. Long gone was that lonely pained soul that hid behind her gentle face. Instead, standing before him now was a genuinely high spirited individual.

Arriving at the area next to the stream, Raki was surprised to see Audrey throw her claymore on the ground, instead of stabbing it into the soil and laying against it as she always has.

He placed his own Claymore next to him as he lay down against the soft grass, looking up into the night sky. He often marveled at the bright stars before his eyes and wondered if they had a deeper meaning. He would often look at the moon and wonder if Clare was doing the same.

_Clare…_

At that moment, he felt Audrey lay next to him. He turned his head and saw Audrey eye him closely as she rested her head on the grass next to his. She lay so close that Raki could smell the scent of her hair and the warmness of her breath as she exhaled. A blush developed on her face when she noticed Raki staring at her oddly. She immediately moved away and turned her face towards the sky in an attempt to hide her red face.

_What is this I am feeling…_

_He makes me feel so safe. It is something I have never felt before. I have a need to be close to him, to feel the warmness and scent of his body._

_Nobody has ever protected me, or treated me so human before…_

"Audrey if you want to lay close to me I don't mind" Raki kindly revealed while watching her stare into the night sky.

She turned her face to his and shyly answered: "Raki, I'm sorry for making you feel so uncomfortable…please forgive me"

"Don't say things like that, everyone needs somebody to hold on to.…it's human nature"

_Human nature?_

"But Raki…I am a monster…"

"Don't ever think that. I've seen warriors act more human than anyone else. Humans can be so cruel, but you warriors work to protect humans without any recognition or thanks"

"I never looked at it that way…" Audrey replied sadly.

"What the organization forgets is that you guys are human. They brainwash you and make you think that you are nothing but a weapon for them to use."

While staring into her eyes Raki added: "your body might contain the blood of a yoma…but your mind and soul are still very much human."

Audrey was struck by what Raki has just said. She felt as if a breath of fresh air renewed her entire body, and a large weight was taken off her shoulders.

_I am…human?_

"Thank you Raki" she added as he noticed a small smile develop on her face.

"No problem…I know all to well how you feel."

"You talking about Clare aren't you?" she asked boldly.

Raki turned his head towards the night sky when he heard those words. He looked into the pale moon as he replied.

"Yeah…"

The two remained silent for a short while as they were left to their own thoughts. The only sound heard was the soft howl of the gentle breeze, and how it rustled the long untamed grass around them combined with the soothing sound of the water splashing against small rocks and pebbles in stream.

"Raki tell me about her" She asked playfully.

"Err what do you want to know?" he replied nervously as he retuned his gaze to her.

"Tell me how she made you feel"

Raki could see Audrey make herself more comfortable, as she waited patiently for his story. She lay on her side, resting her head on her hand and using her elbow to support herself. He could see it in her eyes that she was fascinated, looking like a little girl begging for a story before she fell asleep.

"Well… I told you that she saved me from a yoma in my hometown. At first Clare appeared emotionless and cold, but I saw through her."

He checked if Audrey was still paying attention to him and indeed she was. She eyed him furiously with those silver eyes, listening closely to his words.

" I was kicked out of my hometown, but was saved by Clare… she then allowed me to follow her as her cook." Raki let out a smile as he continued: "though I think that me being her 'cook' was just her excuse to the organization to allow me to follow her"

"Please continue" she plead.

"Well there was one time when Clare almost awakened in Rabona. She asked a soldier to cut off her head, but I rushed to stop it. She begged me to get away from her but I just couldn't. If she was going to die, the I wanted to die by her side."

Raki could see a tear develop in Audrey's silver eyes as he continued: "Somehow, the awakening stopped, and she retuned to normal. Ever since then we have been closer than ever before."

"Clare was lucky to find you" Audrey said with a small smile on her face.

"Anyways, we eventually got separated because of another warrior of the organization. She was much more powerful than Clare, and I think she wanted to kill us both. But luckily, we had enough time to temporarily escape and we went our separate ways, making a promise to each other that we would stay alive to meet each other in the future.

"I'm sure Clare got away alright Raki" Audrey assured.

"I know she did"

"How long have you been separated for?"

"A little over seven years now" he replied.

"What did you do in those seven years?"

"Well, I stayed with a man named Isle…." He paused for a moment hoping that Audrey didn't decipher the full name.

"Is this the same man who taught you how to wield a blade?" she asked.

"Yes."

Raki knew that he probably shouldn't mention Priscilla. He didn't want to risk Audrey hearing her name and then possibly making out Isley as well. The last thing he wanted to do was spoil the mood, and ruin that blissful smile on her face. He couldn't do that to her.

"For the past seven years I have been moving from town to town in search for Clare."

Audrey once again returned her gaze towards the stars thinking deeply. He could see that she wanted to say something. Her face turned to that distinct look she had in the forest when she asked her about Clare.

"I will help you find your Clare. It's the least I could do."

"But what about the mission?"

"I don't care about the mission anymore" she turned to face him: "Rubel probably was told one thing by the organization and told us something different. I really doubt they would send us to attack an awakened being. Rubel is just trying to get us killed."

"Trying to get us killed?"

"So if I we blindly follow his orders, we will probably be killed. I might as well help you look for Clare."

"But…won't you be a traitor then?"

Audrey let out a slight smirk as she remembered what Rubel said to her when she realized he was a traitor.

"_So will you in a matter of hours when you run away"_

_Well he got half of it right… _She thought to herself: _But his guess of a few hours was a little off._

"Yes Raki I will be a traitor. But I don't mind if it means I am still able to live"

"So when do you plan on leaving?"

"Lets just say that this is the last night I will still hold the rank of number three within the organization."

* * *

Clare plead with Miria to wait a little longer, but the captain wouldn't have a word of it. She had already waited for as long as she could, and Teresa had been gone for a few hours now. The rest of the ghosts wanted to leave, but at the same time they felt sorry for Clare, who desperately wanted to stay. Clare had been standing on one of the hills next to the training ground awaiting Teresa's return for many hours but to no avail.

Night had already set foot as the ghosts entered the holy city of Rabona, sneaking through the streets to enter the secret side entrance of the grand Cathedral. All the ghosts sat in the main room, sitting on the various tables talking among themselves while Clare sat on a lone table in the corner of the room. She hadn't said a word to anyone of them ever since Miria decided it was time for them to leave the training grounds.

She wondered what Teresa was doing at this moment in time. She hoped that she wasn't doing anything foolish like Galatea said. If Teresa were killed again, Clare wouldn't know what she would do.

"Clare can I sit next to you?" she heard a familiar voice say.

She recognized the voice as Miria's as she stood next to her. Clare didn't say a word to her captain and didn't even turn to face her as she heard Miria let out a sigh as she sat on a chair opposite to her.

"Clare…don't feel guilty"

"Leave me alone"

Miria let out another sigh as she leant closer towards Clare, placing her hands on the table in between them.

"Just give Teresa some time to adjust to what she had heard…she'll be back I know it"

"How can you be so sure? You know nothing about her"

"Because I see the way she looks at you. I can see how much you mean to her."

Clare set her gaze upon her spiky haired Captain. As much as she hated to admit to herself, Miria always knew what to say to make her feel better.

"t…thank you Miria" Clare stuttered.

Miria suddenly noticed a small wooden carving of the twin Goddesses, Teresa and Clare on the wall opposite to them. She let out slight smile as she looked at Clare's distressed silver eyes.

_Clare is traumatized my Teresa's absence. She has completely lost that joyful spirit she beamed when Teresa was around. She once again has reverted back to her seemingly emotionless nature, and it pains me seeing her like this. _

_Teresa appears to be the same. She too has lost herself when she left Clare._

_It is as if they are like the twin Goddesses in the statue…_

_Teresa and Clare…They fuel each other's existence and breathe the life into one another…_

* * *

I read all review and reply to some too. So tips/comments are appreciated.

Help make this story better!

Stay tuned.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20.

Probably my favorite chapter so far.

Tell me what you guys think.

Enjoy.

* * *

It was a lone and gloomy night as Teresa slid into Rabona through the secret southern side entrance, avoiding the guards at the main gate. She had been originally walking towards the training ground, but realized the ghosts must have already returned back to their hideout. Throughout the journey she thought about Clare, and remembered her exact facial expression when she slammed her fists into the soft earth. She remembered how Clare looked at her with those eyes of confusion and sadness, eyes that haunted her mind for the past few hours.

Teresa finally approached the side entrance of the great cathedral and began to open the secret door hidden behind thick bushes, when she heard someone approach her from the rear.

"So you decided to come back" she heard a voice say.

"is Clare asleep?" Teresa asked sadly, while still facing the door.

The figure behind her replied: "I think you know Clare better than that"

"so where is she?"

"on the roof with Miria"

Teresa let out a sigh and spoke: "thank you Galatea"

She moved away from the door and looked towards the top of the cathedral. The roof was rather high, about twenty meters above ground, but she knew jumping that high wouldn't take much effort. Teresa bent her legs slightly, and sprung herself up landing on the rather steep roof silently. She began to walk up the steep tiles of the enormous roof in an attempt to find Clare.

As she reached the peak of the steep roof, she could see two figures standing close to the edge on the opposite side. Teresa began walking towards the two figures feeling the gentle breeze blow against her, and the coolness it brought on her skin as it played with her hair gently. As she was getting closer to the two of them, she noticed them wearing brown cloaks, most probably to not reveal themselves to guards if they happen to notice them.

Teresa stopped a small distance behind the two figures as one of them began to turn around. It was Miria, and she didn't seem the least surprised to see Teresa standing before her. The other figure then slowly turned around, revealing her face to Teresa. She felt even more guilty when she saw Clare's face and those silver eyes that stared sadly into her own. She looked gloomy and rather miserable, lifeless as she continued to gaze at Teresa. To the both of them, the moment seemed like an eternity as they stood on the roof of the great Cathedral, as the rest of the world began to fade from existence.

Immediately, tears began to flow from Teresa's eyes as she sluggishly moved towards her. Clare was rather surprised when Teresa knelt down before her, wrapping her arms around her legs in a tight embrace. She never thought that Teresa would hold her like this, kneeling before her as if she was ashamed to show her face. Her surprise changed to shock when she heard the wavy haired warrior weep as she buried her face into her brown cloak, almost drowning in her tears.

_Teresa…_

Clare felt tears of her own run down her face as the two stayed on the edge of the roof in the blackness of the night, smoothly illuminated by the moons silver rays. As Clare looked down at Teresa, she only saw her long wavy hair dancing under the wind's breeze as she held her legs tightly. She had never heard Teresa cry like this before, and it showed a vulnerable side to the warrior who she looked up to, the warrior who dragged her out of the abyss, and brought meaning to her life.

"I'm sorry Clare" Teresa whimpered through her tears as she continued to hold Clare's legs tightly kneeling before her.

"Teresa…"

"I promise I will always be there for you…I will never leave you again"

"Teresa…"

"I would die before I see you hurt again…please forgive me"

Clare was speechless when she heard Teresa say those things. She didn't know how to react to such words. This was something she never even imagined would happen. It was as if their roles have been reversed, Teresa seemed like that little girl she used to be so long ago, and Clare was now that powerful warrior she looked up to. After a short moment of enjoying the moment with each other, Teresa began to raise her teary face towards Clare.

"I should have told you Teresa"

"none of that matters anymore Clare… I don't care if your half awakened…as long as you're here with me"

Miria stood a small distance away making sure to give the two emotional warriors some space. She also never thought that Teresa would be capable of such emotion. She truly underestimated how important they were to each other. Clare clearly meant the world to Teresa, and without Clare her life would be meaningless. As much as she hated herself for it, she was secretly envious of the two. She would do anything to have an opportunity to meet a certain someone again, someone who she lost a long time ago. She let out a little smile as she made her way off the roof, taking one last look at her friend and the person who brought the life back into her.

Teresa began to rise to her feet while still keeping her eyes firmly locked on to Clare's. She slowly moved her hand towards Clare's face, using the tip of her thumb to gently wipe away her tears. The two warriors stood on that tranquil rooftop for a short moment, thankful for every passing second they had with each other.

"It's getting late Clare, we should make our way inside." Teresa announced breaking the calming howl of the wind that raced around them.

* * *

The next morning Miria woke unusually late for her standards. As the captain of her group, it was her duty to wake a little earlier than the others and make sure that everything was ready for the day ahead. The room was engulfed by the blinding rays of the sun, indicating that the day had already begun without her. After cursing herself for sleeping in, Miria sat on the side of her bed and after rubbing her eyes, wasn't very surprised to see Clare and Teresa sleeping soundly next to each other on Clare's bed.

Miria let out a slight chuckle as she watched the two sleeping warriors. Teresa lay on her back with one of her arms hanging off the side of the bed, and Clare rested her face gently against Teresa's chest. The two slept peacefully, and not even the sun's bright rays could wake their blissful sleep.

Miria got to her feet and proceeded to walk towards the main room where the others were most likely chatting amongst themselves. She knew they were waiting for her to arrive, as they would have usually been out of the hideout by now. She was greeted by the rest as she entered the room, and joined a table with Cynthia and Tabitha, grabbing a small piece of bread from the middle of the table and taking a bite.

"so Teresa came back last night" Uma spoke from the table next to her.

"yes she came back late last night…where is Galatea?" Miria answered.

"ah yes…she told us to tell you that she has nun duties this week" Cynthia answered.

"what do we do today Miria?" asked Deneve as all the ghosts listened for their captains answer.

After thinking to herself for a while, Miria replied: " We will return to the training grounds after Teresa and Clare wake. I still feel that we need some more time to get to know Teresa and her skills better…"

After a while of chatting amongst themselves, the rest of the ghosts started to feel rather impatient waiting for Clare and Teresa to wake. They had already been waiting for about an hour, and even Deneve seemed to be annoyed by the wait.

"someone wake them up" Helen boasted as she leant against her chair, looking as if she would fall over at any second.

"why don't you do it?" Deneve smirked.

"are you crazy? I don't want to be killed… besides maybe we shouldn't wake those two love birds" Helen teased.

"Shut up Helen"

"leave them alone" Tabitha smirked.

"maybe we should go wake them together?" suggested Cynthia.

"I will wake them up soon" Miria announced, breaking the discussion.

"their probably kissing each other now as we speak" Helen joked as she began making kissing noises at Deneve who hit her in the back of the head.

Suddenly the ghosts turned towards the door and saw Teresa and Clare walk into the room.

"ha, your dead now Helen!" Deneve smirked.

While the rest of the ghosts greeted the two warriors, Helen sunk her face towards the table hoping that the two didn't hear her lame joke. Teresa and Clare sat at Miria's table as they greeted the others back.

"we're sorry for making you guys wait…" Clare spoke.

"You guys should eat quickly and get ready…we're leaving for the Training grounds soon" Miria ordered.

"aye aye boss" Teresa saluted.

* * *

As the ghosts assembled around the meeting tree awaiting Miria's orders, the weather has changed to a depressing one. The bright rays of the sun have disappeared behind a sudden cover of grey clouds that filled the sky above their heads. The ghosts actually welcomed the new weather, as they have grown accustomed to the extreme cold in the north, and it was a nice change from the constant blinding rays of the sun they experienced for the past few weeks.

"alright I want Miata to fight Deneve and Helen, Tabitha and Uma against Cynthia, and lastly me and Clare battle Teresa."

"Awe common Miria let us watch you and Clare fight Teresa for a while" plead Helen.

"we already wasted a lot of time watching Clare and Teresa duke it out yesterday" Miria informed.

"please Miria" Cynthia begged.

"alright alright… a short while" she sighed.

The rest of the ghosts gave a small cheer as Miria turned to Teresa and Clare.

"we will do battle over there" Miria pointed towards a location far away from the meeting tree towards the south.

"alright Miria" Clare replied.

Teresa gave a nod of approval.

"give us a fight to remember!" Helen boasted as she began to sit comfortably against the tree.

"lets go" Miria informed.

* * *

"Teresa…" Clare spoke gently as the three finally arrived at the southern part of the oasis.

"what is it Clare?"

"I don't want you to go easy on me"

"Clare…"

"I want you to fight me like you would fight Miria"

"alright Clare" Teresa reluctantly answered.

Miria walked in front of them as she spoke: "Alright Teresa now if you don't mind, would you please walk over to that direction" pointing towards the west: "and Clare and I will stay here"

Teresa gave her a slight look of doubt, but eventually a small smile developed on her gentle face.

"got it" she answered.

She took one last look at Clare as she began to walk towards the direction Miria asked her to go: "and don't go easy on me neither Clare"

Clare couldn't help but release a smile of her own as she saw Teresa walk away from them with her usual confidence.

"Clare… there really isn't much of a plan… but I don't want Teresa to know that, because it will only make it easier for her if she knows this"

"what do you mean?" asked a confused Clare.

"well, I say we just go all out against her. I'm sure you know even better than I that we cannot hope to defeat her."

"I know that…" Clare replied.

"Don't go easy on her Clare…even with me on your side, I don't think it will make much of a difference." Miria added as she pulled her claymore from her back holster.

"I wont" Clare answered as she did the same.

"ready?" Miria asked.

"ready"

"go"

The two warriors charged towards Teresa who stood a small distance away with her arms crossed while her claymore still sat comfortably in it's holster on her back.

_Teresa why don't you pull out your claymore?_ Clare thought as she rapidly approached her.

Clare pulled her claymore back and began to thrust it towards Teresa, but when she noticed Teresa not even attempt to defend herself, she immediately stopped her blade before it made contact with her.

W_hat is she doing? I could have killed her!_

In a flash, Teresa threw a punch towards Clare, stopping her fist mere millimeters away from her forehead.

"Clare… don't hesitate like that" Teresa gently warned to a stunned Clare.

Clare felt a drop of sweat run down her face as she eyed Teresa's powerful fist in front of her eyes, a fist that would have smashed her skull in. Suddenly Teresa was forced to turn around to block an onslaught of Miria's phantom strikes, turning her back to Clare.

Clare pulled herself together, bracing herself in attack position and watching the back of Teresa as she defended herself against Miria. Clare leapt towards her, throwing swift strikes but to no avail. Teresa had no trouble dodging all of her attacks while parrying Miria's blows. Teresa suddenly jumped into the air, gently kicking Clare and sending her towards the ground, as she continued to defend herself from the furious attacks of the ghostly warrior.

Clare picked herself up from the ground and saw Teresa suddenly grab Miria's blade with one arm and mutter something to her. She then attempted to kick Miria, but her captain quickly phantomed out of the way, only to appear to the side of Teresa and forcing her to let go of her blade with an incoming kick to the side as she dodged the attack.

Clare charged towards Teresa, attempting to read her flow of yoki and released a windcutter to the weakest areas. Teresa however, was too quick and easily evaded the whirlwind of steel while continuing to defend herself from Miria. Clare began to time her windcutter with Miria's phantom blows in an attempt to overwhelm Teresa, but Teresa knew what they were trying to do. Realizing the trap, Teresa rammed her foot in the area she predicted Miria to appear, and sure enough her foot made contact with the spiky haired warrior, as she was launched towards the wall of trees on the outside of the oasis.

Teresa then turned her attention to Clare and began delivering clever blows to the short haired warrior. As Clare defended herself from Teresa's attacks, she could see that Teresa hadn't even broken a sweat the entire time, while her and Miria we're practically fighting at their limits. She also knew that Teresa was holding back, but her blows still felt very real and powerful, and Clare honestly struggled to stop them. Clare couldn't help but notice that famous faint smile on her lips as she continued her attacks against her.

As Clare parried Teresa's clever strikes, she finally saw what Teresa was trying to do. Teresa wanted Clare to read her attacks, to read her flow of yoki as she moved her body. Clare began to concentrate deeper than ever before, while still defending herself and started noticing minuscule movements of yoki in Teresa's body. The yoki was difficult to read because it was extremely suppressed, so manipulating it to change the direction of her attacks was out of the question. But Clare could still manage to make a pretty accurate prediction as to the direction of her next attack.

As Clare continued to parry and read Teresa's blows, she noticed a certain pattern in her attacks. Whether it was intentional or not, Clare noticed that after her seventh attack, the eighth attack was a few microseconds slower. Seeing her chance, Clare threw her leg towards Teresa's chest after her seventh attack and almost landed a direct hit. Teresa managed to evade the kick and pace herself a small distance away from Clare eyeing her closely.

"that was good Clare…you saw it."

Immediately after she said that, Miria was on the offensive once again. Clare jolted towards the two and released another windcutter towards Teresa's back while Miria attacked her from the front. Clare managed to predict exactly where Teresa was planning to dodge her attacks, and aimed her blows towards the hilt of Teresa's blade in an attempt to disarm her. Amazingly her prediction was correct, and Teresa dodged exactly how she expected. Her blade struck Teresa's hilt and forced her to drop her claymore while Miria kicked her towards the ground, hitting the soft grass with her back.

As Teresa lay on the ground, Clare immediately jumped on top of her and placed her hand firmly against her neck pinning her to the ground.

Teresa couldn't help but release a gentle smile as she looked up at the young warrior who held her against the ground. Teresa could see the confusion in Clare's silver eyes, looking as if she was torn between uncertainty and satisfaction, not knowing for certain which emotion to feel.

"I am very impressed Clare…you defeated me" Teresa spoke as she lay against the ground watching Clare above her.

Clare let out a slight blush as she heard Teresa praise her like that. It was something she could never get tired of hearing from her gentle voice, something she would always welcome. She removed her grip from Teresa's neck, as the two warriors got to their feet and dusted themselves off.

Teresa crossed her arms and tilted her head down towards the ground beaming a smile of satisfaction. She was truly proud of them both, and especially Clare.

_These two are very powerful. _

_Miria's raw skills surpass Clare's slightly, but Clare's yoki sensing abilities easily make up for that…_

_She is exactly like me…_

"I must admit...I underestimated you two" she said proudly.

"So when do you plan on getting serious Teresa?" Miria wisely noted.

"you may actually force me to get serious in the not so distant future…you two are more of a challenge than numbers two through five of my time"

* * *

please review.

Stay tuned!


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21.

Note: for all those people who think that Teresa is OOC with the crying thing read this:

Teresa has always hid her true emotions behind her faint smile. The Teresa we saw in the manga before she met Clare, was just a sad miserable individual. Now that she has been revived, the true Teresa is revealed. She no longer has the 'uber' confidence she used to because of four things.

Beaten by Priscilla.

Beaten by those three claymores at the training ground.

Tortured by the organization.

Fear of losing Clare.

Now if you think about it, Teresa only has one meaning in life, and that is to live for Clare. She cried because she dreaded the thought of loosing Clare.

Don't forget the way she cried in the manga when Clare hugged her after she scared that bandit away…

Anways I hope that clears it up a little.

Enjoy.

(yes the plot is also speeding up)

* * *

After a long day of training yesterday, the ghosts woke early to listen to what their captain had planned for them. Miria only used the term 'training' as an excuse to satisfy hers, and others curiosity of Teresa, and she didn't disappoint. She was confident that the others were familiar enough with Teresa to begin working with her.

The ghosts made their way to their usual meeting place, the main room, and sat against various tables lightly chatting amongst each other. Miria leant against the side of a wall with her head bobbed down waiting for them to quiet down before she would inform them about the day ahead.

"Hey boss what do you have planned for today?" Teresa asked as she sat with a table with Clare.

"Hey why do you call her boss?" Helen asked from a nearby table.

"Just a habit" Teresa replied.

"She's been with us for two days and she respects Miria more than you Helen" Deneve claimed.

"Hey I respect Miria, right guys?" She turned her face from side to side desperately trying to see if anyone agreed with her, but saw no one. "Oh whatever" she said as she crossed her arms angrily, sinking deeper into her chair.

Miria walked in front of all the ghosts as they sat on their tables, grabbing their attention.

"We will once again commence our covert operation to scout the lands. This time however, we will all go as one group. "

Clare immediately thought of Raki when she heard this. She searched for Raki for weeks without rest, and was miserable when she returned to Rabona without him. Teresa's return had made her so excited, she completely lost track of reality. Teresa was an escape from her misery, bringing back the happiness she so desperately craved. However the fairytale was over and it was time for her to find Raki, and keep that promise they each made to each other.

"Miria I'm not coming" Clare suddenly announced as the rest of the ghosts turned to face her shocked.

"What do you mean Clare?" Miria asked.

Clare could see that even Teresa was confused, unsure of her motives, as she and the rest of them awaited her response.

"I still have some things to do…Teresa are you willing to come with me?"

"Of course Clare" Teresa responded without a hint of hesitation.

"Clare…we can find him together, don't go by yourself" The Captain added.

_Him?_

"Clare…who are you trying to find?" asked a confused Teresa.

Clare let out a sigh as she focused her attention on Teresa. She noticed the other ghost's watching uncomfortably, pretending not to listen. It was always an awkward situation when Raki's name was mentioned among them, and this was especially the case because of Teresa's presence.

"There is someone who is very important to me and I have to find him."

After a short moment of silence Miria spoke: "Clare…listen to me, you might as well come with us…"

"Save it Miria, the only person she will listen to is Teresa…" Helen noted as all eyes were suddenly on Teresa.

Teresa's eyes flickered between Miria and Clare for a short while, when a small smile developed on her lips.

"Clare...Miria is right, however I will help you no matter what decision you make."

After a short while of thinking to herself Clare let out a breath of relief, as if she finally came to her senses. She knew that Miria was right. It made more sense for them to stick together. Clare was the only one with the chance of recognizing Raki, and if she split with the ghosts, the others might walk right past him and not even recognize him.

"I reconsidered"

"Well lets not waste any time, we leave now" Miria commanded.

* * *

After pondering to herself for a while, Miria decided to lead her party towards the southern lands. She remembered Riful explaining that Luciela was defeated by Isley, and Galatea sensing that Isley was dead. She wanted to avoid the eastern lands at all costs, because of Alicia and Beth, and the west because of Riful, so the south was the safest place to explore. She planned to visit each and every town in search for organization's warriors, and of course, help find Raki for Clare. She would make sure that they would remain undetected, staying as far away from roads and other public places as possible.

"Clare, can you tell me about this person who is important to you" Teresa asked serenely as the ghosts walked through a field of tall dense grass.

"His name is Raki. He is a boy I saved from a yoma and followed me in my travels for a while"

"And what happened to him?"

After a short pause, Clare continued: "we got separated because of that warrior I told you about before…Ophelia."

Miria felt a slight tingle in her spine as she heard that name.

Teresa's gentle face suddenly turned to disgust: "is this warrior still alive?"

"No" Clare replied.

"You don't want to know what I would have done to her if she was" Teresa said crossly.

Changing the tone, she added: "well I hope you didn't treat this Raki the same way I treated you when we first met."

"No, I was resistant at first, but I didn't kick him"

"I'm sorry for kicking you back then Clare…" Teresa said sadly.

Clare gave a lighthearted smile at Teresa as she continued: "We made a promise that we will stay alive and meet each other…it's been seven years now."

"If he is that important to you, then he is important to me as well…wait…." Teresa smiled at Clare cheekily: "is he your boyfriend?" as she gave her a nudge to the shoulder.

"No…" Clare replied.

"Are you sure?" Teresa asked playfully.

"Stop it Teresa!" Clare objected, slightly blushing.

"Alright alright" she replied mischievously.

After a short while of talking amongst each other, Helen decided to get something off her shoulder. Something she was dying to know.

"Hey Teresa…I'm not trying to sound rude or anything…but how are you…you know…alive?

The rest of the ghosts immediately turned silent and waited for Teresa's response closely. They all desperately wanted to know that very answer, but until now, none of them had been brave enough to ask Teresa that question. They didn't want to ruin Clare's and Teresa's emotional reunion.

A faint smile developed on the former number one as she replied: "the organization somehow resurrected me. I don't know how, and I don't care. I was held prisoner for a while and I escaped."

"I never knew they did such experiments…" Miria announced.

"I didn't either, but I am glad they did…although I have a feeling they wont be conducting any more experiments for a while" she said with a sinister tone.

"Why not?" asked a naïve Uma.

"Well I took care of a certain someone… lets just leave it at that"

"Miria…there is a yoki signature just ahead" Tabitha suddenly announced.

"Is it a warrior of the organization?"

Tabitha closed her eyes and began concentrating deeper on the yoki aura off to the distance.

"It's an awaken being…no wait…there's two of them"

"How powerful are they?"

"One is…very powerful, but appears to be in a weakened state. The other one is weaker, but is still quite powerful."

Miria turned to face her party, who waited patiently for her orders.

"We are going to investigate it, and are not to engage it until I deem it is the correct course of action. Does everyone understand?"

Her party gave a nod of approval, as they cautiously headed towards the direction of the awakened beings.

* * *

They have finally gotten close enough to see the two figures in the distance. The ghosts stood on the edge of a small cliff, overlooking the grassy fields below them. One of the awakened beings was in the form of a man, and the other in a form of a young child. The one that took the form of the man was carrying the smaller one in his arms, as if she was injured, or dying. They seemed to be travelling towards the south.

"That's definitely them" Tabitha assured.

_Something definitely doesn't feel right…_

'Tabitha, does their yoki feel familiar to you?" Miria asked.

Tabitha turned to Miria and replied: "not really, the bigger one has a yoki I never sensed before, and the injured one's yoki is much to small to properly read. However small the yoki from girl is, it is far more dense that the other. It is very powerful."

"I say we go in there and finish it" Helen said.

"No, wait…something must have defeated that strong one, we will force it to tell us what it was"

"Are you crazy?" Teresa questioned as all eyes suddenly turned on the wavy haired warrior.

"We might as well ask it if we're going to kill it anyway." Miria replied.

"You're going to put us in unnecessary danger"

"Teresa…with all of us here, they don't stand a chance" Miria responded.

"So should we flank them?" Cynthia suggested.

"That was exactly what I was thinking…half of us go towards the left and the other half towards the right. Suppress your yoki to the very limit, and slowly approach them from both sides, whilst making sure you can't be seen. I will release a yoki pulse as a sign to suddenly surround them."

Miria turned towards the rest of them and added: "Teresa, Clare, Uma, and Tabitha approach them from the left, while me and the rest will do so with their right side."

The ghosts gave a nod as they scattered, forming two groups, to ambush the two awaken beings. They crouched, using the tall grass as cover to get closer to the two awaken beings that seemed oblivious to the incoming ambush. Finally, the two groups got as close as they could without getting noticed as they awaited Miria's signal. Being so close, they could see the two figures with much greater detail. The larger one was a brutish man wearing no shirt and only short pants, he was rather ugly and ogre looking. The girl he was holding had long brown hair, and was wearing a dress that was so torn up, it looked more like a rag. She seemed quite wounded, and was missing her left arm.

The ghosts felt Miria's signal, and immediately lunged out of their hiding places to encircle the two awaken beings. The large brutish man immediately stopped walking and froze, frantically scanning the new faces that surrounded him. He had a worried look, as the others saw a drop of sweat leave his face. The ghosts stood in defensive positions around the two, as they eyed the enemy closely, preparing themselves for any sudden attack.

"Why couldn't I sense your presence!" The man yelled.

"We will not answer any of your questions…but you will answer all of ours" Miria spoke confidently.

"Hey…I recognize you" He spoke as he pointed to Clare. "You were one of those three from seven years ago"

"I believe you are mistaken, I do not know you" Clare replied.

"Oh we've met in the past… you just can't recognize me in this form"

"Tell us why the other one is wounded" Miria ordered, looking at the child he was holding.

"I'm not telling you anything, get away from us now or else I'll smash you!"

"This is your last warning" Miria warned.

The brutish man turned his face to the little girl as he held her in his arms. The ghosts immediately paced themselves backwards as they saw him starting to transform. His human looking skin, turned to a dark purple as his body increased in size, making bone crunching noises as his very bones began to twist and bend. When the transformation was complete, he was a rather large humanoid awakened being, with a tough outer layer of skin. He assumed a pose of a gorilla, while holding the girl safely in his right arm.

Clare immediately recognized him now. He was the awakened being she combated along with Galatea and Jean, the one Riful named Dauf if she remembers correctly. A wave of fear passed Clare's body as she realized the little he was holding girl must be Riful. She remembers her human form quite vaguely, but now that she recognizes Dauf, her vivid memory of her was suddenly pieced back together.

"I wont let you hurt her!" He roared with his monstrous voice, throwing a punch towards Miria.

Miria quickly phantomed out of the way as his fist rammed the soft ground, creating a small crater. He seemed rather confused when he lifted his arm and couldn't find any sign of her.

"Where did you go you little bitch?"

The ghosts immediately began distancing themselves away from the enormous awakened being, entrapping him in a larger circle as they stood around him. Dauf frantically turned his head from side to side, as if he was unsure of who to begin attacking, while still gently holding the girl in his right arm.

"Let me handle him…" Teresa announced but was left unheard as the rest of the ghosts charged towards him, leaving her behind. She managed to grab Clare's arm and pull her back, as she attempted to join the others in the fight.

"Hey Teresa what are you doing!"

"Clare, its too dangerous for you guys to fight him, let me do it"

Dauf lifted his left arm, and aimed it towards Helen and Deneve. He fired shot after shot of organic looking rods towards them, but the quick moving warriors easily dodged them. The ghosts began slashing at the beast, as he desperately fought back, while trying to protect Riful. A few of their blows wounded him, as they hit the exposed areas not protected by his tough outer armor.

Teresa and Clare watched in shock as Dauf's powerful arm made contact with Tabitha, sending her flying, and narrowly missing a few others.

"Stay here Clare, ill finish this" Teresa announced.

"Teresa wait!"

Teresa charged towards Dauf and the rest of the ghosts, grabbing Helen and Deneve by their arms and throwing them back towards Clare.

"Everyone get back let me handle him!" she yelled.

The others immediately began backing off from Dauf as they heard her commanding voice. They stared at the former number one who gave them a look of warning, indicating to retreat.

Teresa stood there confidently, crossing her arms while beaming a little smile. She wasn't intimidated by this awakened being, she fought much more powerful ones in the past.

As the rest of the ghosts returned to Clare, they watched Teresa and Dauf staring at each other, as if sizing up one another.

"Did she have to throw me and make me land on my head?" Helen whimpered as she got to her feet, holding the side of her aching head.

"What is Teresa thinking? it wouldn't hurt to have our help" Miria angrily spurred.

"Trust Teresa" Clare assured, as she watched the back of the wavy haired warrior a small distance in front f her.

"I only hope she knows what she's doing…"Miria added.

"I care not for your pathetic life" Teresa announced to Dauf "If you don't tell me what happened to your little friend, then I'll have to break you and ask her myself"

"Just you? You think a puny thing like you can defeat me?" He laughed.

Dauf aimed his left arm towards Teresa and fired a volley of organic poles towards her. Teresa dodged the poles before he even fired them, as she had no problems reading his flow of yoki. The enormous masses smashed into the soil, creating small tremors in the earth upon impact.

"What? Why can't I hit you?!"

Teresa pulled her claymore from her back holster while still beaming her famous smile: "those arms of yours are annoying. I think you'll look better without them"

"Wha?" before he could finish, Dauf roared in pain as his arms were separated from his body, spraying a pool of purple blood from both sides. Both his massive arms, and Riful, fell to the ground with a thud, as he stood there stunned. In a flash, Teresa returned to her position in front of Dauf with a blood soaked claymore.

"That's much better" Teresa smiled.

"My arms! My arms! How the hell did you do that?" he whimpered.

Teresa began to approach the smaller awakened being that lay against the ground. She could see her trying to get to her feet, but failing miserably. She knew that this awakened being was very powerful, but in it's current weakened state, it was much weaker than the bigger one.

Dauf collapsed to his side, unable to stand on his feet anymore due to blood loss and the sheer pain.

"Don't you dare touch her!" He yelled desperately as he lay against the ground, in a pool of his own blood.

Teresa however ignored him as she made her way towards the little girl. She could see that she has given up trying to stand, and instead, stood up on her knees, using her remaining right arm to balance herself. She stopped right in front of the trembling awakened being as she looked down at her, eying her furiously with her silver eyes.

"Please don't hurt her!" Dauf begged as he lay a small distance away.

Teresa looked over at him: "awakened beings can care for each other? Please don't make me laugh"

The rest of the ghosts arrived and surrounded Riful, as she tried desperately to remain upright. They could see a small smile develop on her face as she eyed Clare.

"Hello again short hair."

All eyes abruptly turned to Clare, as the shorthaired warrior and monster gazed upon each other.

"What are you doing in the south?…Riful of the West." Clare asked.

Clare felt a wave of shock and uneasiness fill her comrades. Their gaze flickered frantically between her and Riful, unable to believe the name they just heard.

"You can kill me now if you want. But that would be a bit rude don't you think?" Riful uttered.

"Who did this to you?" ordered Clare.

"There you go again, always demanding things…you're quite good at that aren't you? I believe that you owe me for those times I helped you."

"Clare we cannot trust it" Teresa muttered, as she angrily watched Riful.

"I agree, Teresa is right, she is far to dangerous" Miria added.

Clare didn't even turn to face the two as she continued staring at Riful. "What do you want?"

Riful let out a little smile as she spoke: "seven years ago I let you escape unharmed, and only recently I told you about Isley…and that thing he carries around… I only ask that this time you help me…and in return, I will answer all of your questions."

* * *

tell me what you guys think in the reviews.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22.

I put a lot of effort into this chapter, and I hope you like it =D.

Don't forget to review.

* * *

Riful's words echoed in the minds of all the ghosts, as if they were unable to comprehend her words. They couldn't believe that this little girl was Riful of the west…an abyssal one. They all stood around her cautiously, taking little comfort with the fact that she was wounded.

"We should introduce ourselves to each other…it's only polite" Riful announced in her childish voice.

"Why are we even listening to it?" Teresa grumbled angrily.

"Geesh you guys are really no fun… ok then, let me start. As you know I am Riful, and that over there is Dauf." As she pointed to Dauf, who was whimpering in pain.

"Oh be quiet Dauf, I've been without my left arm for a while and you don't hear me complaining"

she turned to face Clare and added: "He really is quite pathetic…but still he is my man"

After a short silence Clare added: "My name is Clare…"

"Clare don't talk to it, let me do it the favor of slicing its head off." Teresa interrupted.

"Who is this Clare?…she is so rude" Riful said as she stuck her tongue at Teresa.

"Forgive her… her name is Teresa, and this is Helen, Deneve, Cynthia, Tabitha, Miria and Uma." Clare announced as she pointed to each Ghost.

"Pleased to meet you hunters" she said cheerfully.

"What kind of help do you need Riful?" Clare asked.

"Well as you can see, I am really quite weak and I would appreciate it if you protected me from something"

Teresa grumbled again as she began to fold her arms looking disgusted. The rest however, seemed intrigued and afraid at the same time.

"This is getting ridiculous, lets just beat the information out of her" Miria sneered.

Riful gave a worried look as she looked to Clare for help: "Hey no fair…you wouldn't do that to me, we're friends"

"Friends? I wouldn't go that far… you tried to kill me a few weeks ago" Clare replied.

"Please don't misunderstand, I have no intentions of killing you anymore. I need all the allies I can get"

"Boss, permission to break her" Teresa asked.

"Granted" Miria answered.

Clare walked in front of Teresa, blocking her off from Riful.

"Clare…" Teresa said looking surprised.

"Even though she is an awakened being, she may give us some useful information." Clare informed.

Teresa gave a furious stare at Riful: "I know what your doing. Your thinking that when you regain your strength you can kill us all. But I have something to tell you…if you try anything funny, I'm going to rip you to pieces."

"Whoa Clare, your friend is really scary"

Clare let out a sigh as she turned around, facing Riful.

"Don't get the wrong idea, I appreciate the information you gave me seven years ago and the information you gave us recently, but I won't loose any sleep if you are killed"

"Well I suppose that's the best I can hope for" Riful replied.

"Tell us what damaged you to this extent" Clare asked.

"Promise not to kill me after I tell you?"

"I promise." Clare replied.

"Pinky promise?"

"What?"

"Never mind" she replied giggling.

"Tell us now"

Riful managed to get to her feet, watching Clare closely with her friendly smile.

"The organization has created these things, that are supposed to be anti-abyssal weapons. They are roughly the size of a human, have no yoki aura, and always come in groups of eleven. They are actually quite easy to kill at first…"

"What do you mean at first?" Miria asked with great curiosity.

"Well when you kill half of them, the rest retreat in different directions. It's impossible for me to destroy them all when they run, and they only need one to transfer its memories."

"Transfer its memories?"

"Every time I kill half of them, they retreat and regain their numbers and come to attack me the next day. The odd thing is that every time they attack me, they become more difficult to kill."

"So you suspect the surviving ones transfer their memories to the newly created ones" Clare wisely added.

"You always have been quite the sharp one, that is right. They have been slowly building up combat knowledge to defeat me."

"How many waves of these things have attacked you so far?" Miria asked.

"I dunno, I lost track after about twenty… I really need your help, I am too weak to defend myself anymore, and Dauf is too slow to be effective against them"

"What a cruel way to die…slowly chipping the life away from you" Clare noted.

"Your telling me…these things don't quit."

"So I presume that's how Isley was defeated too?" Miria questioned.

"So you heard about that? Yes, Isley was defeated by them."

"When is the next wave due?" she questioned again.

Riful placed her index finger on her lips as she thought to herself. "Well they should be coming pretty soon."

"How soon?"

"Probably in the next hour or so"

Miria had a look of doubt on her face as she weighed the pros and cons of saving Riful. Her entire being told her to kill Riful now, but her strategic side begged her not too. Indeed Riful was a dangerous awakened being, but she may be quite useful information wise. Miria knew for sure that Riful didn't tell them everything she knew in one go.

"Alright, fine we will protect you, but you must tell us everything you know" she announced.

"I promise I will tell you everything" Riful smiled.

Miria and Teresa gave each other a look. They both knew that neither was happy about what they were about to do.

"Well if you're planning on defeating these things, it's best to fight them in a valley, or someplace where their places of escape are limited." Riful spoke.

"Do you know of one close by?" Clare asked.

"Well we were heading towards a valley before you ambushed us, but I'm not sure what I was hoping for, Dauf can't possibly stop them by himself."

"How far away is this valley?" Miria asked.

"It's right up ahead, in between those two cliffs." She pointed towards the south.

Riful turned towards Dauf, and noticed his arms we're cut to pieces. There was no hope for them to be reattached in such a condition.

"Hey, if it's not too much to ask…one of you have to carry me there" Riful announced with an innocent look. "Dauf is really very slow at regenerating his limbs"

"That's it, I'm ending this now" Teresa snapped as she stormed towards Riful, pulling her claymore from it's holster, but suddenly stopped when she saw Clare kneel down and gently pick her up. The ghosts couldn't believe that Clare actually held an abyssal one in her arms, and doing so without the slightest look of fear on her face. Clare held Riful with one of her arms supporting her back, and the other supporting her legs, looking like a mother holding her injured child.

"Let's go" Clare announced as she began to walk towards the south, passing her comrades who stood there stunned.

"Hey Dauf…stop being such a crybaby, hurry up and follow us south" they could hear Riful say from Clare's arms.

Dauf seemed to struggle to get to his feet, but got there in the end. He let out a grumble as he followed Clare, eyeing the rest of the warriors suspiciously as he walked past them.

"Is Clare always this reckless?" Teresa asked as she and the rest of the ghosts watched the three move off towards the south a small distance away.

"Oh you have no idea just how stubborn Clare can be" Helen replied.

"I should have stopped her…" Teresa added.

"That's what we keep saying to ourselves" Deneve sighed.

"But it turns out that Clare's reckless ways usually do more good than bad" Miria said.

* * *

Arriving at the valley in between two steep cliffs, Clare gently placed Riful on the soft grass as the rest watched in wonder. The place seemed almost perfect to fight a large number of enemies, as there were only two ways of escape because of the two walls of rock on each side of them. The area in between the cliffs was rather lively, and contained lush vegetation and even some small trees.

"This place should be perfect to combat them" Riful said as she sat on the grass below Clare's feet.

"Tell us how to combat them" Miria ordered.

"Always use your weapons to attack them with, I wouldn't recommend using your body"

"Why is that?" Clare asked.

"Because they can form blades and other weapons from any part of their body"

"Whatever" Teresa smirked, still looking irritated as she crossed her arms in defiance.

"Oh and go for their heads, that's the only way I found to kill them."

An awkward silence passed as the ghosts, Dauf and Riful waited for the arrival of the organizations new weapons. Riful explained that they emitted no yoki aura, so they kept a sharp eye on their surroundings, watching for even the slightest sign of movement. They made sure to watch all areas, including the top of the cliffs to avoid an ambush.

Frustrated and bored, Riful decided to end the silence.

"Hey Clare your friend is really strong" pointing to Teresa "Too bad she has no manners"

"Oh you have no idea how tough she is" Helen spoke, as she suddenly placed her hands on her mouth, feeling foolish that she just spoke to an abyssal one.

"Please don't be afraid of me, I really think we can work together"

"None of us are going to awaken and join you Riful" Clare said.

"What a pity…you guys would be powerful…you know I've been wondering….why do you have a grudge against Isley's woman?…the one he called Priscilla"

She noticed Clare's calm face suddenly turn pale white, and her hands trembling slightly. Teresa seemed to react to the name as well, but not to the extent of Clare, she just lowered her head and closed her eyes. Miria was the only one of the ghosts who knew about Priscilla. Clare had been quite open with her in the north, and told her the entire story of Teresa and herself. She looked sadly into the eyes of Clare, knowing that the very sound of Priscilla's name filled her body with uncontrollable anger.

"Oh did I say something wrong?" Riful asked confused.

"That is none of your business" Clare coldly brushed away.

"Please forgive me, I didn't mean to upset you!" Riful expressed with a worried look. She paused for a short moment as she continued: "…It's just that, we both want the same thing"

"Oh and what is that?"

Riful stared deeply into Clare's silver eyes with seriousness.

"We both want Priscilla dead."

"Shut up…" Teresa muttered angrily as she approached Riful, stomping her boots on the ground. She stopped right in front of Riful and eyed her furiously, looking as if she was going to kill her on the spot.

A sinister smirk developed on Teresa's lips as she gazed at her like a hawk to its prey.

"If I wanted to kill you…I assure you none of these warriors would be able to stop me…"

The rest of the ghosts felt a jolt of fear race throughout their bodies, as they sensed the monstrous yoki being emitted from Teresa's body. The yoki aura was so powerful, that it caused the very air to expand rapidly, creating powerful gusts of wind that raced past them, throwing dust and grass into the air as Teresa's eyes turned to a brilliant Gold. She looked deeply into the eyes of the surprised Abyssal one, who seemed to struggle to remain upright before the powerful winds.

Miria stood in awe as she watched the wavy haired warrior stand before the abyssal one.

_How could she have such a monstrous Yoki?_

_The time when we all fought her at the training grounds…._

_Her yoki was nowhere near this powerful…._

_It looks like she has regained her full strength…._

_Riful isn't the true monster…_

_Teresa is…._

Feeling Clare's hand on her shoulder, Teresa's rage began to die down. The yoki that raced ecstatically through her body began to suppress, causing the powerful winds around her to cease, as her furious golden eyes reverted back to a calm silver. Clare made her way in front of Teresa while still keeping her hand fixed on her shoulder, giving her the same look she gave when she was a little girl. Behind those silver eyes, Teresa swore she could see a little fade of green, the innocent little eyes she used to have.

"Please Teresa stop"

The sound of Clare's soft voice struck deeply into the former number one. She couldn't bring herself to disappoint Clare, or to hurt her again. She lowered her head and began backing off from the awaken being she was about to slaughter.

"Their here!" Uma yelled from the entrance of the valley, not far from where the rest waited.

"Ok, form a circle around Riful and Dauf…let none of these things get to them" Miria ordered as the ghosts unsheathed their claymores.

Uma made her way past a few bushes to join the rest of the ghosts as they stood in defensive positions around the abyssal one.

"It's all up to you guys, I'm using all my remaining strength to remain conscious" Riful announced in the middle of them "Oh and don't let any of them escape, it would all be for nothing if even one escaped"

"Yeah yeah we got it" Helen replied, suddenly having the confidence to talk to her.

After only a few seconds, the ghosts could hear a few rustles in the bushes where Uma stood watch. The rustles began getting louder as they desperately tried to look for any signs of the monsters. In a flash, two undead looking humanoids appeared in front of them. They were a little larger than an average human and had their mouths and eyes sewn shut.

They immediately rushed towards Riful, but were interrupted by Miria and Teresa. The two warriors swung their weapons towards their necks but the beasts bent their necks in an inhuman way, avoiding the fatal blow. The rest of them appeared from behind the bushes, as the ghosts began to engage their targets.

Clare noticed one of the abyssal feeders jump high through the air in an attempt to land on Riful, as she rushed to her defense. Clare let her yoki release in her borrowed arm, as she unleashed a powerful quicksword towards the sky, slicing the abyssal feeder into a thousands pieces as a shower of blood fell to the ground.

It didn't take long for Teresa and Miria to defeat their targets, but the rest weren't so lucky. The others were being forced to be constantly on the move, to evade the abyssal feeders ferocious attacks. The two quickly dashed to the aid of their comrades, slicing up one unfortunate abyssal feeder who had it's back against them. In the heat of the battle, Clare noticed another abyssal feeder make it's way towards Riful, as she desperately tried to intercept it before it made contact with it's target.

She dashed towards the abyssal feeder releasing a quicksword, but this one quickly jumped out of the way to evade the storm of steel. The other's immediately faced the direction of Clare's roar of pain as the abyssal feeder managed to thrust it's hand through Clare's gut, as fresh blood sprayed in the air.

"Clare!" Teresa roared in terror as she frenziedly sprinted towards her.

Time seemed to slow down as Teresa planted boot after boot into the soil, pushing the limits of her body like never before in order to get to Clare in time. The abyssal feeder pulled its bloody arm backwards, preparing to spring it towards Clare to finish off the job.

_No!_

_I can't let Clare die!_

_I promised her I would always be there!_

_Why did I leave her side!?_

_No…_

_I'm not going to make it in time!_

Unimaginable fear and terror raced through Teresa's body as she came to the realization that Clare was going to die. Teresa felt as if her very heart was being ripped out of her chest, and her blood turn ice cold as she saw the abyssal feeder's sharp arm making it's way ever closer to Clare's chest. Seconds seemed like hours as the arm was moving inch by inch towards the vulnerable flesh of her little girl.

_I…failed…._

Unexpectedly, a wall of fleshy strips stopped the Abyssal feeder's arm from making contact with Clare's body, giving Teresa the extra microseconds she needed to slice it's head off in time. She immediately threw her body on the ground and placed her hand behind Clare's head, holding it off the ground as she attended to her wounded little girl.

"Clare! Are you alright!" Teresa asked with desperation, as she feverishly examined the wound on her body.

"It's only a scratch" Clare softly mumbled, trying to mask her pain.

Clare turned her face towards Riful, as she began to retract her awakened arm, reverting it back to its human form. She gave Clare a weak smile as her body collapsed to the ground, loosing consciousness as she met the cold dirt.

After defeating the remaining Abyssal feeders, the rest of the ghosts immediately surrounded Clare with terrified faces, kneeling down beside her. Cynthia spared no time to place both her hands on her comrades' wound, in an attempt to heal it.

"I thought I was going to lose you…" Teresa whimpered as she hugged Clare tightly.

"I'm alright" she replied.

After a short while, Clare found the strength to stand on her own feet with a little help from Teresa and Miria. The wound on her stomach had already stopped bleeding thanks to Cynthia, and the pain was mostly gone.

"Clare you shouldn't stand in this condition" Teresa said with concern.

They all turned to face the unconscious Riful, as she lay on the grass with Dauf kneeling next to her looking worried.

"I am thankful that I am in this condition…it could have ended very differently if it wasn't for her"

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Tell me what you guys think in the reviews, I will read each and every comment/review.

Stay tuned!


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23 here we go guys.**

the storyline is slightly different from the manga

1- Alicia and Beth never attacked Riful

2- Helen and Deneve never met Dietrich or Isley

After their encounter with the abyssal feeders, the ghosts have continued their journey towards the south. Miria had decided to head towards the very end of the known world to begin their search for the organizations warriors and Raki. They would start at the town of Seral, and move upwards, eventually making it back to the midland. Night was drawing near as the ghosts walked through the seemingly endless forest they were marching through for a few hours now. They were relieved that they found some cover in the forest, as the plain lands provided no such refuge.

Clare had been putting up a bit of resistance when the others plead with her not to walk in her condition, but her resistance was futile once Teresa opened her mouth. One little smile from the wavy haired warrior made Clare feel like that vulnerable girl she used to be, immediately removing any defiance from her mind. The others were surprised when Teresa picked Clare up and carried her in her arms, but they were even more surprised that Clare allowed her to. Deneve was the only one of them whom had the courage to carry the abyssal one, Riful. They couldn't just leave her there on the ground, she still had much to tell them.

"We will rest here" Miria ordered as she shoved her Claymore into the soft dirt and began to sit against a large tree.

"Clare, you are really light" Teresa said as she placed Clare gently against another tree trunk opposite Miria.

"So I've been told" she replied.

"How close are we to that town Miria?" Tabitha asked as she sat against Miria's tree next to her.

"From here, it will be a few days walk"

"Where should I put her?" Deneve asked as she held Riful in her arms, looking around for a suitable location.

"Just place her there" Dauf grunted, using his head to point to a large log.

"Am I the only one who finds it strange that he still didn't re grow his arms?" Helen asked, shrugging her shoulders.

He grunted again as he followed Deneve who placed her against the log. Dauf sat beside the sleeping Riful a small distance away from the others.

"I'll go get something to eat, take care of Clare." Teresa announced.

"Teresa, the wound healed a while ago" Clare replied.

"Of course…the half awakening must make you heal faster…i'll be back with something soon…." She said as she began to walk away from them.

After only a few steps, Teresa stopped in her tracks and stood in silence.

Without turning around, and in a depressive tone she asked: "you…still eat human food?"

"Yes" Clare replied.

Teresa let out a sigh of relief as she began walking towards the sleeping Riful and Dauf, stopping right before them. The rest of the ghosts immediately stopped what they were doing to watch what Teresa was going to do.

"There is no way I am leaving that thing with Clare when I'm not here" she sneered coldly at Dauf.

"You should be more Grateful…if it wasn't for Riful…" Dauf muttered.

"I don't even know why we are keeping you alive, the original deal had nothing to do with you if I remember correctly"

A drop of sweat could be seen leaving Dauf's face as he eyed the former number one standing before him. She had a nasty look on her face, a face that seemed disgusted by his very presence.

"R…Riful would…"

"Riful would what?...kill me?" she mocked.

Teresa moved her face to within an inch of Dauf's, looking deep into his eyes. Dauf could see the monstrous hatred that resided behind those eyes, hatred that seemed to consume her entire being. He was absolutely terrified for himself, but mostly for Riful.

"You really should respect your elders" a childish voice announced next to Dauf.

"Oh so your awake?" Teresa muttered as she angrily crossed her arms.

"Is Clare alright?" Riful asked.

"Well if you must know…she is fine"

"I'm glad to hear that" she paused for a short moment: "are you sure none of them escaped?"

"We destroyed them all" Miria announced as she abruptly appeared next to Teresa.

Miria cautiously paced herself backwards in alarm as the abyssal one suddenly got to her feet. Teresa however stood there defiantly, still keeping her usual confidence with that faint smile on her face.

"It's time for you to keep your half of the bargain" Teresa smirked.

"As promised I will tell you all that I know"

Teresa made herself back to Clare, stubbornly standing by her side with her arms crossed as Riful walked towards the ghosts. All eyes were on the abyssal one as she stood there with a childish smile on her face. She turned her face to her missing left arm as the very bone and muscle began to regenerate at an incredible pace.

"I'm sure your all dying to hear what I have to say"

"Please tell us Riful" Miria asked.

"Don't speak to it like it's human" Teresa scoffed.

"Teresa let her speak" Clare objected.

"At least there is someone here with manners" Riful smiled at Clare. "Now…let me…think"

"Before sundown would be nice" Teresa smirked.

"Geesh your impatient…." Riful said slightly annoyed: "remember when I told you guys that I have something interesting?"

"Tell us Riful" Miria said

"What I obtained was a fused form of Luciela and her sister."

"I thought that Luciela was defeated by Isley" Miria said.

"She was, however she was driven away from the south. I found them both holding each other next to a small river near my territory. Their bodies appeared to be fused together, as if their very flesh melted on to each other, it was rather interesting"

"And what are you planning to use them for?"

"Well…I knew that the two of them were in a dormant state, and I needed someone to awake them…and lucky for me, I found a warrior of the organization that was perfect for the job."

"Somebody with a gift of Yoki detection" Teresa said.

"That's right because the two of them had merged, a new consciousness would be created, one totally different to that of Luciela or her sister. So with the help of this warrior I obtained…it awakened."

Riful's cheerful face suddenly turned into a frown as she continued: "I was hoping that it would be just a little weaker than me so it would be a good little pet…however it's strength began to grown off the scale and I decided not to risk destroying it. I wasn't sure if I could kill it."

"So you just left it there?" Clare asked.

"Yes, and shortly after those creatures came and attacked me…I have been running from them ever since, and now I'm here"

"You were hoping to make a powerful ally…" Miria added.

"That's right, but it looks like I'm out of luck…the organization is out to kill me, and umm…." she paused as she turned to face Clare "and that thing is still out there."

"You mean Priscilla…" Clare said softly.

All attention turned to Clare as she got to her feet, walking towards a confused Riful.

"How powerful is she…?"Clare muttered, holding her hands in a tight fist.

"Well Clare…she is in her own league, not even I could beat her…" she said sadly.

Riful's face suddenly turned cheerful as she spoke: "that's why I think if we work together, we can maybe beat her"

"You have my attention" Clare responded.

"What! What do you mean by that? There is no way you can be considering this Clare!" Miria roared.

Teresa added: "Clare…you know that I love you, and that I would do anything for you…but I won't just stand by and let you do such a thing." She let out a sigh as she continued: "Don't make me force some sense into you Clare…"

"Wow she really has a tight leash around your neck huh Clare?" Riful giggled.

"Leash?" Clare questioned.

"You've gone too far now you little bitch…" Teresa wailed as she stormed towards Riful furiously, but was stopped in her tracks as Clare moved in her way stubbornly.

"Clare…move out of my way" Teresa warned.

"Riful and us are in the same situation…what possible reason has she got to kill us?"

"I don't care in the least Clare…the only reason why I haven't killed it yet, is because you asked me not to…but I must go against your wishes if it means to protect you"

"Hey I'm not an it!" Riful childishly screeched.

"Look at it Clare…it is not human…it cannot be trusted, what do you think would happen if I wasn't here?"

"What are you saying?" Riful questioned behind Clare.

"I wasn't talking to you" Teresa sneered.

"Are you saying that I can't defeat you?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying""

"You think that the only reason why I haven't killed you guys yet is because I'm afraid of you?" Riful asked.

"Yes…and if It wasn't for me, you would have probably killed everyone by now"

"Look, I've seen you fight Dauf, and your yoki is impressive…but no warrior can defeat me…the only reason why I haven't killed you guys yet is because I don't want to"

"Do you want to test me?" Teresa warned.

"I am rather curious as to why you are so confident you can defeat me"

Clare looked worriedly into the eyes of the wavy haired warrior who stood there defiantly: "Teresa…please don't do this…Riful is an abyssal one"

"Clare…you honestly don't know anything about me… this wont take long."

"Hey you know what! I have an idea!" Riful announced excitingly.

The others looked at her unusually as the little girl before them clapped her hands in excitement.

"It's been so long since I've held a claymore…why don't we both have a duel with a claymore?"

"Fine whatever, it doesn't make a difference" Teresa said with almost no emotion.

"Clare, hand me your Claymore please"

Clare pulled her claymore from its back holster, and handed it to Riful who held the heavy weapon rather awkwardly.

"I might be a little rusty"

The others began moving a small distance away, preparing for a clash of the Titans. Clare however just stood there, eyeing Teresa closely.

"Clare, go with the others"

"Promise me that you won't die?"

"I promise Clare"

Clare reluctantly began to move backwards, while keeping her eyes firmly locked on to Teresa. She certainly didn't want Teresa to fight Riful, even if it was a so-called 'friendly match'. Teresa had already been killed once before by an awakened being, and Clare hoped with all her being that it wouldn't happen again. She wouldn't know what she would do if Teresa left her again.

The two former number ones stood before each other, each with a claymore in the main hand. Riful had a childish grin on her face, while Teresa kept her faint smile locked firmly on her lips.

"So what was your former rank?" Riful asked a small distance away.

"Number one…just like you"

"Oh a fellow first ranking soldier…a pleasure." she paused for a moment and continued: "just remember this is not to the death"

"Speak for yourself" Teresa smirked.

"Here I go"

Riful charged towards Teresa swinging her claymore with impressive speed, but her attacks were easily parried. Teresa swiftly rammed the hilt of her blade into Riful's forehead with crushing force, smashing her seemingly frail body against the cold dirt.

"You are pretty good" She giggled as she lay beneath Teresa's feet.

"And you are right…you are rusty"

Riful quickly got to her feet, and began her assault for a second time. This time, her attacks were more coordinated and dangerous, as she plowed her claymore rapidly towards her. Even though Riful's attacks were devastating, Teresa had no trouble whatsoever stopping them. Because Riful was an abyssal one, yoki flowed through her body like a river, only making it easier for Teresa to read her attacks. Realizing her attacks were useless, Riful stopped her onslaught and paced herself backwards.

"I see…you are very good at yoki detection…that is why no matter how good my attacks are, the direction of my strikes are painfully obvious to you"

"You could say that"

"It really has been too long, I'm nowhere near as good as I used to be with a claymore" she muttered.

"Hurry up and show your true form" Teresa demanded. "I wont feel as bad if I accidently kill you"

Riful let out a little smile as she replied: "Alright…I promise I wont hurt you too much"

The little girl moved away from Teresa as her body began to split into hundreds of fleshy strips that slithered their way towards the sky above, forming a feminine humanoid form. Her lower body was an immense mass of the organic strips, crossing over each other like wire mesh on a steel cage.

"Well I have to say…your awakened form is rather impressive" Teresa announced from the ground as she gazed into the blood red eyes of the enormous awakened being above her.

"I'll tell you what…lets play a little game. It's a game I played with Clare seven years ago and she managed to win, so I don't see why you wont be able to….but then again I wasn't really trying with her"

"Go on…" Teresa answered sounding annoyed.

"You hit my top body and you win"

"Sounds easy enough"

Teresa bent her knees, using them as a spring to jump towards the top half of Riful's body, cutting whichever strips dared to be in her way. When Teresa came dangerously close to her top half, Riful used her strips to form a defensive wall in an attempt to stop her. Teresa anticipated this, and with lightning speed she appeared on the opposite, undefended side of Riful swinging her blade towards her body. The abyssal one, managed to wrap one of her fleshy tentacles around Teresa's wrist, immediately stopping the blade before it made contact with her body.

"For you not to release any yoki and getting so far…is very impressive" Riful announced gazing upon the wavy haired warrior who was suspended in the air, being held in the air by her wrist.

"I'm surprised you didn't take this opportunity in an attempt to kill me."

"I already told you that I have no intentions of doing so" Riful replied.

Teresa rapidly used her free hand to rip apart the fleshy strip that wrapped it's way tightly around her right wrist, causing her to fall on the wire mesh of Riful's body.

"Oh you are very strong"

Teresa sprinted against Riful's wire mesh body towards the top half, disappearing from sight when Riful attempted to brush her off with a volley of her organic strips.

"Where did she…."

Before she could finish, Riful felt cold steel pass through her body from behind. Teresa stood behind her, with her Claymore pelted through her mid section.

Riful split her humanoid form into hundreds of pieces, removing herself from the blade and reforming in front of Teresa.

"You are very fast…you didn't even give me time to react"

"Just don't make the mistake of thinking that I trust you now" Teresa warned as she stood on the wire mesh facing the abyssal one.

"Teresa never ceases to amaze does she?" Helen boasted as her and the rest of the ghosts watched the two making their way back.

"Indeed she is amazing" Deneve noted.

"Never have I realized just how powerful Teresa actually was…the organizations records never mentioned power of this scale" Miria said.

"And she didn't even use her yoki powers yet…" Tabitha informed.

"Well, we are lucky to have her on our side"

Teresa and Riful joined the rest of the ghosts who stood in silence. Teresa walked over to Clare who leant against a large tree, and Riful sat next to Dauf against the log.

"I told you nothing was going to happen to me silly" Teresa teased as she poked Clare playfully.

"I knew that…" Clare replied shyly.

"So what happens to….her now" Teresa said as she pointed to Riful. "The deal is over, why is she still here?"

"Oh so you no longer called me an it?" Riful said happily.

"Look…I'm going to get us something to eat before we rest" she announced as she walked over to Riful. "I'm not leaving you alone with these warriors…so that means, your coming with me"

Riful looked over to a concerned looking Dauf, then back to Teresa.

"I'm sure we'll have much to talk about" she smiled.

"Clare…I wont be long" Teresa announced.

The next Morning the ghosts woke early as Miria instructed, ready to continue their journey towards the south. Teresa and Riful took a little longer to get food last night than Clare hoped, and she wondered what they talked about, or if they even talked at all. They both returned with some pieces of fruit, throwing each ghost a piece each. Riful of course didn't eat anything, but she seemed just as happy watching the others eat.

After a few hours, the ghosts left the thick forest and once again returned to the grasslands. Miria didn't really like the grasslands, she didn't like the idea of being so exposed with nowhere to take cover, but she took comfort in the fact that she had Teresa, and hopefully Riful on their side.

"Miria, there is a large concentration of yoma up ahead" Tabitha announced.

"Great… are any of the organization's warriors present?"

Tabitha closed her eyes to concentrate on all the yoki auras around her and returned her gaze to Miria.

"There are two warriors…one of them has a rather strange yoki aura…and the other has a familiar one"

"Familiar?" Miria gave her a confused look.

"I may be mistaken, but it appears that the warrior with the familiar yoki is one of those two who we saved from Riful a few weeks ago…"

please tell me what you think so far.

Stay tuned!


	24. Chapter 24

Here is Chapter 24, I hope you guys enjoy it.

* * *

After a moment of thinking to herself, Miria decided to head towards the group of yoma Tabitha sensed, hoping to witness a battle between them and the two warriors. She made it clear to the rest of the ghosts not to engage any enemy until she deemed it necessary, as it was vital they remained invisible to the organization.

As they reached the top of a small hill, the ghosts could see a village off to the distance. It was a rather lively village, with a large crowd of people concentrated in the markets, which was encased by thick walls on the outside. The ghosts noticed two cloaked figures with yoki auras walking towards the city's main gates.

"Looks like that's them" Helen noted.

"One of them is definitely that organizations number three." Tabitha added.

"Why are they wearing cloaks?" Teresa asked.

"That's a good question…that could only mean they don't want to be found, which might also mean they don't work for the organization anymore" Miria said wisely. "Are you sure that you cannot recognize the other one Tabitha?

"Not only can I not recognize it, but it has a strange aura…not like an ordinary warrior"

"So its an awakened being?"

"No its not…it's strange, I don't know what it is"

"Riful…can you sense it from here?" Miria questioned.

"Yes, but I also have no idea what it is…" she replied.

"Must be another one of their sick experiments" Deneve said in disgust.

Miria placed her hand on her chin as she pondered their next course of action. She ruled out the possibility of getting any closer, due to the risk of exposure, so their only option was to be spectators for now.

"We will stay here and watch for now, when they leave the town we will engage them."

The others gave their captain a nod of understanding as they watched the two cloaked figures attempt to blend into a small crowd near the front gates. To their surprise, the two of them managed to slip past the guard rather easily.

"There are quite a few yoma in that town…" Teresa noted.

"Shouldn't be a problem for that number three" Miria replied.

* * *

"I count seventeen…" Audrey whispered to Raki as they walked in their cloaks through the crowded marketplace.

"I wonder how so many yoma made it in this town…." Raki whispered back.

"It is quite strange isn't it?…" she said as she gently pushed a villager out of her way. "There are so many yoma in this village, and these people seem like they are completely unaware of them"

"Yeah…you would think they would have noticed by now"

"Remember the plan…we don't want to start a panic" Audrey said.

The two of them immediately stopped when they noticed one of the yoma a small distance away from them. It was in the form of an ordinary looking man browsing the marketplace like everybody else.

For the past two days, Audrey and Raki have been moving from town to town in their search for Clare, and destroying any yoma they came across. They didn't want to alert themselves to the organization, so they would silently assassinate yoma that lurked among the people in towns and villages. This usually involved luring them one by one to a lonely alley and silently slicing their heads off with a dagger. However, luring them was not always a possibility, and they were left with no choice but to attempt the silent assassination in the crowds. Sometimes they were lucky, and they managed to grab the falling body and use their blinding speed to hide it somewhere with nobody noticing, but other times they were found out. Audrey really hated it when that happened, because it meant that they had no choice but to reveal themselves and prove to the people that it was a yoma they had just killed.

"I'll take care of this one" Audrey said.

Audrey began to push her way through the crowd of people heading towards the yoma that was standing casually next to a bread vendor. Audrey locked her eyes on it like a hawk to its prey, holding on to her dagger that was hidden in her sleeves.

_Unfortunately I don't see a suitable place I can lure it to._

_This crowd is quite a large one, I can probably assassinate it without anybody noticing._

_After I stab it through the head, I can grab the body and attempt to jump on the rooftops as quickly as I can, placing the remains there where nobody will be able to see it._

_There is probably a fifty-fifty chance I will succeed without anyone noticing though…._

Audrey placed her hand in one of the pockets in her cloak and pulled out a handful of coins. She threw the coins on the ground near the yoma, causing a frenzy of people from the crowds to run towards the coins, desperately trying to collect them. Using this distraction, Audrey sprinted towards the back of the yoma, silencing it by placing her hand against it's mouth, and pulling it backwards as she stabbed her dagger through it's skull. She then immediately grabbed it and jumped to the nearest rooftop and placing the corps there without anyone noticing.

A short moment later, Audrey appeared from the crowds as she returned back to Raki.

"Sixteen to go…do you want to give it a try this time?" she asked through the shadows of her hood.

"I've seen you do it many times, I'm sure I can do it"

"Well you do move as fast as me…if not faster. Let us split up, it will be much quicker that way. I've already spotted another one towards the north east of the town, I'll be heading towards there."

"Then I'll head towards the south west" he replied.

* * *

"One of them just defeated a yoma, there are now sixteen remaining" Tabitha noted as the ghosts watched the town before them.

"And they did it without causing a panic…clever" Miria said sounding impressed.

"It's obvious now that they aren't on the organization's side…the organization has no reason to hide their warriors from the public" Teresa said.

"There's still much we don't know about the organization" Clare added.

"That is true" Miria replied.

Tabitha announced: "the one with the strange yoki is approaching two other yoma…" she paused for a moment: "it just killed one of the yoma…"

"So that's fifteen remaining…" Helen said,

The ghosts continued to stand on that hill, listening to Tabitha as she updated them with the status of the two warriors. Every few minutes, she would tell them how many yoma were remaining, as their numbers were slowly being reduced.

"They just killed the last one…"

"And they still managed to maintained their cover" Teresa noted.

"So now we just wait until they leave the town?" Cynthia asked.

"That's right, we will engage them once they leave" Miria answered.

"Hold on…" Tabitha objected.

"What is it?"

Tabitha's face suddenly turned to one of surprise as she spoke: "there is an awakened being in that town…it is hiding it's yoki very well…I can't believe I didn't detect it earlier."

"Must be a very clever one to hide itself from you for this long…how strong is it?" Miria asked.

"Well it's not as strong as Riful…but it is still rather powerful."

"Must have been a former top three" Riful added.

"Shit…we can't just stand here and let them fight it themselves…" Miria said with a hint of nervousness. "Come on…were going in to help those fools"

* * *

After successfully assassinating all the yoma in the town, Audrey and Raki returned to each other, standing on a rooftop in the middle of the town.

"So that's one more town that's safe" Audrey said to him as she eyed the oblivious people scurrying the busy streets below her feet.

"Must feel good not to do it for a job huh? Raki added.

With a little smile Audrey replied: "I guess it does."

"I still can't believe that we managed to do this without anyone noticing" she added.

"I guess we're just lucky…"

"Did you feel something?" Raki asked looking confused, as he scanned the area around them for a sign of danger.

Audrey turned to face him as she shook her head.

"Must be my imagination…" he said sounding uncertain.

"Come Raki, I believe the next town is only half a day's walk"

The two of them stealthily made their way off the rooftops as they entered the busy crowds below. The town center was a rather large circular area void of any buildings, but full of merchant stands. In the middle of the area was a spectacular fountain with many marble statues positioned within it.

Raki immediately noticed one of the statues in the fountain. It was the statue of the twin goddesses, Teresa and Clare. A smile developed on his lips as he made his way towards the sculpture, stopping in front of the large fountain. Raki always liked this statue, it always reminded him of Clare and the times they had together.

"Hey Raki, is something the matter?" he heard Audrey say behind him.

"No…nothing at all" he happily replied through his hood.

Suddenly, Raki and Audrey heard the crowds around them scream in fear as the people began to panic, desperately trying to make their way towards the southern part of the town. They heard a few people screaming the words 'Claymores' and 'Silver eyed witches' as they almost trampled over each other. Dumbfounded, the two of them turned their gaze towards the north of the town to see what the people were running away from. They could see about a dozen figures wearing dark leather clothes rapidly running towards them.

"Shit don't tell me the organization already found us!" Audrey screeched as the figures immediately stopped in front of them.

"Fools get the hell out of here! Don't you sense it!" An all to familiar voice roared.

Raki's eyes widened and his heart jumped for joy as he recognized Clare standing among the group in front of him. Clare looked exactly the same as he remembered from back then, with the same light skin and chin length blonde hair. He was rather surprised by how small she was, as he always used to look up at her when he was younger, but now he stood a few inches taller than her. He had searched for her for so long, and as she stood there in front of him, he couldn't find the words to speak, or even do anything. He eventually found the strength to open his mouth and mutter the words through his hood:

"Clare…"

He could see Clare react to the sound of his voice, as if it sounded familiar to her. Her serious face suddenly changed to a mystified one, as she stared deeply into the shadows of his hood.

Raki placed his hands on the sides of his hood as he shakily removed the fabric to reveal his face. He recognized a few of the others as well, as they widened their mouths in amazement and Clare's skin turn pale white as she eyed him closely.

The two of them began to walk closer to one another with their eyes firmly locked on the other, almost tripping from excitement. As they were about to embrace, they were interrupted by the arrival of the awakened being. It came from underneath the ground, as it blasted a hole in the cobblestone floor and slithered its way out of the hole. The awaken being was somewhat in the form of an insect, however it had some human qualities such as a human head and arms. The creature stood about ten meters tall and had octopus like arms attached to the sides of its body. It stood dangerously close to Raki and Clare as they both pulled their claymores from their back holster, pacing themselves backwards from the monstrosity before them.

"You have a claymore?!" Clare asked looking surprised as she stood next to him.

"It's a long story" he replied.

Their conversation was cut short when the awakened being launched one of its enormous tentacles towards them. Clare held her claymore tightly as she was about to slice it up with a quicksword, but was stunned seeing Raki jump to her defense. The octopus like tentacles wrapped themselves around Raki's claymore, attempting to separate it from his hands, but he proved to be too strong. While holding his claymore with his right hand, he used his free hand to grab on to the tentacle and rip it cleanly off it's body.

The awakened being made a brief screech of pain as it's limb was severed, but immediately began its assault again as it rapidly regenerated its lost limb. This time the awakened being launched a dozen tentacles towards a stunned Clare and Raki, but the attack was stopped by Teresa, who ran to their defense, taking the hit instead. She managed to cut all but one of the tentacles, with the remaining one ramming into her, violently launching her into the air.

Clare yelled Teresa's name at the top of her lungs, almost shedding a tear as she watched her crash into a distant building behind her.

_She could have easily dodged that attack…she did that only to protect me…_

Rage flowed through every vein in Clare's body as she turned her face towards the awakened being with monstrous hatred, but was immediately alarmed to see a dozen more tentacles make their way towards her.

Suddenly, a river of fleshy strips made their way in front of her, forming a defensive wall to protect her from the incoming tentacles. Clare turned her face to see the fleshy strips connected to Riful's awakened arm as the little girl gave the awakened being an angry look.

The rest of the ghosts immediately began their assault against the awakened being, managing to slice off a few of it's tentacles in the process. The beast almost tripped over its own limbs as it frantically tried to defend itself against the onslaught of attacks. Riful began to retract her awakened arm and slowly walk towards the awakened being, with her body splitting into hundreds of pieces as she transformed into her awakened form.

"What the? There are two of them!" Raki yelled through the deafening screech of the beast.

"Ones on our side, I'll explain later" Clare yelled back.

Seeing Riful transform, the rest of the ghosts immediately pulled themselves away from the awakened, leaving this fight to the abyssal one. Riful launched a volley of her razor sharp ribbon like strips towards the awakened being, which impaled the beast upon impact, causing it to collide with the large marble fountain, totally destroying it and sending rocky shards into the air. The beast, however regenerated rather quickly as it launched a volley of it's own tentacles against the abyssal one, but to no effect. Riful split herself into hundreds of pieces, avoiding the attacks and reforming herself a second later.

A smile developed on Riful's awakened lips as she noticed Teresa sprinting on the rooftops towards the awakened being. She jumped from building to building, rapidly approaching the awakened being from its side. Riful made sure that the monster had it's back turned to Teresa, as the wavy haired warrior leaped from the edge of the nearest building towards it. With one foul swoop, Teresa's blade removed the beast's head from its body, as the colossal corpse collided with the hard cobblestone floor.

Teresa was surprised when Riful gently wrapped her ribbon like strips around her body, breaking her fall and suspending her in the air. Riful used her strips to grab the rest of the ghosts, Dauf, Raki and Audrey as she carried them out of the city with amazing speed.

As the abyssal one slithered her way through the streets, and over the town walls, she eventually made it to the hill they stood on before. She gently placed each ghost on the soft grass as she reverted back to her humanoid form, letting out a huge sigh of relief.

"Well that was…fun" Helen joked, feeling slightly nauseated.

With no danger present, Clare and Raki immediately wrapped their arms around each other, letting out a few tears of joy. The two held each other for what seemed like forever, as the rest of the ghosts watched with smiles on their faces.

"Clare I knew you were alive!" Raki yelled joyfully.

Clare turned her face to Raki's and looked deeply into his brown eyes, surprised by how large he had gotten. No longer was he that scrawny little boy she knew from her memory, but instead there stood a rather handsome solidly built young man. She felt the firmness of his rock hard muscles as he wrapped his powerful arms tightly around her, and the comforting warmness it radiated.

"Raki…how are you so fast…and so strong?....don't tell me you…"

"No I didn't volunteer to join the organization…" he paused for a moment as he stared deeply into those all to familiar silver eyes: "they abducted me after some strange organic projectiles pierced my flesh"

"Was this in the west?" Riful suddenly asked from the blue.

He turned his gaze to the little girl as he replied "yeah…"

"That would be my bad…" she said awkwardly.

Clare removed herself from their embrace as she saw Teresa approach them with a proud smile on her lips.

"Raki… this is Teresa"

"Nice to meet you Teresa" Raki cheerfully said.

"Oh and it's nice to meet you to Raki" she smiled.

"Teresa was the one who saved me from a yoma when I was younger…in a sense, she is to me what I am to you." Clare added.

Raki's eyes turned to amazement as he excitedly spoke: "I am forever in your debt Teresa, you saved the one who saved me…"

Teresa placed her index finger on the young man's lips, silencing him. She gave him a friendly smile as she gently spoke:

"Clare gave me the greatest gift of all…and I can see that you gave her the same gift…so it is I who is actually in your debt."

* * *

If you guys want a Claymore anime season 2, then click on my profile and vote for it!

There is a petition happening on a Japanese website, but I've included a guide on how to vote. They need 10 000 votes.

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	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25.

Had some trouble with this one.

Anyways enjoy.

* * *

"Nice to see you again Teresa…I see you've made some friends" Audrey announced.

The rest of the ghosts turned their heads to the hooded figure that stood awkwardly in front of them. Audrey removed her hood to reveal her face accompanied by a gentle smile. She looked uneasily at Riful, and then returned her gaze to Teresa.

"So I see you left the organization" Teresa replied.

"I'm still coming to terms with it"

Raki was so overwhelmed by his reunion with Clare, that he completely forgot about Audrey. He felt rather guilty when he saw her standing awkwardly by herself, away from the rest of the ghosts. He gave Clare a smile, then he turned and walked towards the lone Audrey.

"Clare, I would like you to meet Audrey."

"I've already met her before" Clare replied.

"I recognize some of you" Audrey said as she scanned each face in front of her. She fixed her eyes on the shorthaired warrior as she added: "So you're Clare…Raki has told me a lot about you."

"What is your business with Raki?" Clare asked suspiciously.

"We escaped the organization together"

"Raki…did she lay a hand on you?" Clare asked while keeping her eyes firmly on Audrey.

"No" he replied.

"Well thank you for helping Raki, but it's time for us to go now" Clare added as she signaled for the rest to leave.

"Wait Clare, she has nowhere to go, why can't she come with us?" Raki plead.

At that moment, Teresa walked in front of Clare with her arms crossed. She looked into her eyes as she softly spoke:

"Clare…Audrey also helped me escape, I think she has our trust." She looked into the sky as she placed a hand on her own forehead and let out a big sigh as she added: "what happened to me…I owe so many people lately…."

"You are welcome into our group Audrey." Miria announced. "My name is Miria and I am the captain of this rebellion… this is Helen, Deneve, Cynthia, Tabitha, Uma and Riful."

"I'm not even going to ask how you managed to get Riful on your side" Audrey spoke as she looked nervously at the little girl.

"Oh hi there" Riful said cheerfully. "I remember you, you were that polite one with that defensive ability…do you want to awaken now? You would be much more powerful"

"What?" Audrey replied in an astonished tone.

Riful could see Teresa staring angrily at her with one of her eyebrows raised. It was at that moment that she remembered what Teresa had told her last night, when the two of them were searching for food. Teresa made it clear that she would accept her for who she was as long as she doesn't encourage others about awakening, in particular Clare.

"Just kidding" she giggled.

"Alright then, you can come" Clare said with a surprisingly welcoming tone.

"I will prove to be useful, I can tell you all that I know about the organization, in particular Alicia and Beth."

All eyes were on the captain as they awaited her orders. Miria wasn't sure if it was worth exploring the lands anymore. The ghosts already had Teresa and Riful, and now they had Audrey who was a great source of information for them. The captain could see the others waiting patiently for her answer as she finally made up her mind.

"We will first travel to an undisclosed location and listen to what Audrey has to say before we do anything"

* * *

Miria decided to lead the ghosts back into the cover of the forest. She knew that the fight with the awakened being was bound to draw some attention, and it was only a matter of time before the organization sends some warriors to investigate.

As they made their way to the forest, Clare, Teresa, Raki and Audrey lagged behind the rest of the ghosts as they talked amongst each other.

"So Clare, how come you never told me about Teresa? And why wasn't she with you when we were together?" Raki asked as the four of them walked around each other.

Clare and Teresa gave each other an uneasy look, as if neither of them knew where to begin. Teresa let out a sigh as she broke the silence:

"During my time, I was the number one of the organization. I was a heartless warrior. I loved nothing and cared for nothing, but it was Clare who brought meaning into my life."

She paused for a moment as she watched the intrigued face of Raki and Audrey.

"Clare was just a little girl when I first set eyes on her" she turned to a shy Clare with a warm smile as she continued: "I killed a yoma that was tormenting her, and despite my repeated warnings not to follow me, she continued to do so. I was rather annoyed by her at first, but eventually we formed a close bond. I wanted Clare to live on as a human, so I left her in a peaceful town in the mountains. But the peace was disrupted by the arrival of bandits who raided the town. One of the bastards hurt Clare and I just had enough, so I killed them all."

"And of course you were hunted down by the organization" Audrey noted wisely.

"I was immediately considered a traitor and was punished with the penalty of death. However I escaped the execution, and continued to travel with Clare."

Teresa's facial expression changed to a gloomy one as she continued:

"The organization sent numbers two through five to kill me…I had no trouble fighting against them, however I let my guard down…I was dead for over ten years, and was only recently resurrected by the organization."

"In the records, it is written that the newly appointed number two defeated you…Priscilla, who later came to be known as the one horned beast." Audrey added.

At the sound of Priscilla's name, Raki immediately stopped in his tracks, looking as if he's just seen a ghost. The others looked oddly at him as he stood awkwardly behind them, totally lost in his own thoughts.

_Priscilla…is this true?_

_Did you kill Teresa? The one who saved Clare?_

_For the past seven years, I have been staying with Clare's mortal enemy?_

_Why did you do it?_

_Why?_

"Raki are you alright" Clare asked as she walked up to him giving him a concerned look.

Raki however didn't even respond to her words, as the terrible realization sunk into his mind. The more he thought about his time with Priscilla, the guiltier he felt about it. It was as if he betrayed Clare…and betrayed Teresa, and he didn't know if they could ever forgive him.

"Raki?"

Raki snapped out of his thoughts as he looked into Clare's concerned looking eyes.

"Nothing…it's nothing, I just thought I heard something" he replied trying to hide his nervousness as he scratched his head.

"There is nothing here Raki" she said as she scanned the area around them. "Tabitha would have sensed something"

"I guess it was my imagination then…"

After a short while of walking, the ghosts entered the thick cover of the forest, brushing branches and leaves away with their hands as they searched for a suitable place to rest and listen to what Audrey had to say. Eventually they found an area of the forest that wasn't choked with a dense array of trees and bushes, and it was decided by Miria that this was a fitting area for them to stop.

Miria slammed her claymore into the soft dirt as she sat against a large rock keeping her eyes firmly locked on Audrey. The rest of the ghosts found comfortable positions of their own as they waited for Miria to begin asking her questions. Clare and Teresa stood stubbornly next to Raki, with Audrey looking rather nervous standing in front of Miria.

"So…Audrey, tell us all that you know" The captain asked as she leant forward, folding her hands together.

Audrey took in a deep breath as she cleared her mind. She looked at all the intrigued faces around her as she began to speak:

"As you all know, I am Audrey and my former number was three in the organization. The organization is currently suffering from a lack of members and they are promoting trainees much earlier than usual."

"Go on" Miria insisted.

"I have been involved in many of their crazy experiments, and have been forced to test out a few of them myself." She turned to Teresa with a smile "it seems that the organization is trying to replace the half human half yoma design with something else…something more efficient."

"It's because all warriors eventually awaken" Miria wisely noted.

"That is correct. Knowing that awakened beings are superior to ordinary warriors, the organization has attempted to harness the power of one, and that is where the Alicia and Beth project comes in. Even though Alicia and Beth have the power of an Abyssal one, they have two major weaknesses. The first weakness is that Beth has to control her sisters awakening, which leaves her in a vulnerable state in combat. The second weakness is that it takes many years of mental training to achieve such a synchronization of minds, and this is only possible with twins."

"Hold it. I presume Alicia and Beth are the organizations current numbers one and two?" Teresa asked with a confused look.

"My apologies Teresa, I should have explained that to you before. You are correct, Alicia and Beth are the organizations number one and two. Alicia is able to fully awaken while her sister synchronizes her mind to control her awakened form."

"Where are you going with this?" Miria questioned.

"Basically what I am saying is that Alicia and Beth are experiments and nothing more, much like us. They are the organizations greatest weapons for now, and they continue to do research into creating controllable awakened beings."

Audrey let out a smirk as she looked at the captain: "I presume you plan on taking down the organization?"

After a slight pause, Miria replied: "yes"

* * *

After hearing what Audrey had to say, Miria had decided that it was best for them to spend the rest of the day in this small clearing in the forest. She knew that Clare was excited about Raki's arrival, and wanted to give the two some time to catch up. She thought deeply about their next course of action, knowing that there was no point scouting the lands anymore. Her group already had enough intelligence and the strength to take down the organization, so they were in no rush to do anything. The Abyssal feeders shouldn't return as they have defeated all eleven of them, so it seems that they can rest easy. She turned her attention to an excited Clare, Teresa, Audrey and Raki as they talked amongst each other a small distance away.

"So it was only the seven of you that survived?" Raki asked Clare as the four of them sat against a large log.

"Yes, us seven were the only ones that survived in the north" Clare replied.

"I wish my story was half as interesting as yours…"

"Raki…can you tell me something?" Clare asked anxiously, sounding as if she was expecting something she didn't want to hear.

"Sure…"he answered nervously.

"When I returned back to Rabona a few weeks ago, Sid told me that he saw you travelling with a little girl" she looked sadly at him as she continued: "who is this little girl?"

_What am I supposed to tell her?_

_Well I certainly can't tell her that it's Priscilla…_

"She is just a child I saved from a yoma. Her parents were killed so I escorted her to her uncles' village" he lied.

A weak smile developed on Clare's lips as she stared at the ground, looking rather convinced by his words. Teresa however didn't look convinced in the slightest, as she stared suspiciously at him. Raki felt a little uneasy by the way she was looking at him, but felt slightly relieved as the wavy haired warrior gave him a friendly smile.

"Raki, you were very impressive when you jumped to Clare's defense." Teresa announced.

"I really didn't do much at all…"

"You showed a great feat of strength when you ripped the awakens tentacle clean off."

"Well I wanted to protect Clare…"

"It's strange…you don't have silver eyes, yet you move and fight like one of us" Teresa said as she scanned the yoki channels within his body. "Your yoki aura is very strange, and I cannot decipher exactly what it is that you are."

"I can help you find out what he is" a childish voice giggled.

"How long has she been up there?" Audrey questioned as she looked oddly at Riful who lay comfortably against a thick branch above them.

"Oh she's been there for a while…" Teresa answered.

"What is it you want Riful?" Clare asked.

"Oh I just want a little taste of him. Just a teeny tiny little bit of his blood will tell me what he is" she said excitingly.

"You're not going to touch him" Clare warned.

"I'm only asking for a little bit…just one taste" Riful begged childishly.

"Alright" Raki replied to the surprise of the others.

"Raki…what are you doing?" Clare asked anxiously.

"Well I really would like to know myself"

"Are you sure about this Raki?" Teresa asked.

"Yeah"

Teresa turned her face to the branch above as she stared at the little girl who now began to lick her lips from excitement.

"Just one little bite" Teresa warned. "Any more and you'll regret it."

Riful jumped off the branch above them and landed next to the large log the four of them sat against. She walked over to them and climbed onto the log, while keeping her eyes firmly locked on to Raki. She reached for his right arm, pulling it closer towards herself as she softly spoke:

"I wonder what you taste like…but don't worry" she giggled childishly: "I promise that no matter how good you taste, I wont go too far"

"Well that's good to know" he said nervously to the abyssal one.

Clare and Teresa watched concernedly as the little girl sunk her teeth into Raki's exposed arm, sucking out the red liquid that flowed through the open wound. She pulled herself away from the wound as it quickly regenerated to the surprise of the others.

"Well that explains the fast regeneration" Riful muttered as she licked the remaining blood on her lips with her tongue

"Tell us Riful" Clare asked curiously.

"Teresa is right, your yoki aura is very strange…and your blood is nothing I have ever tasted before"

"What do you mean?" Raki asked worriedly.

"Well… you don't taste like a human…or an awakened being…rather, you are a combination of both."

"So he's half awakened?" Clare asked.

"No he isn't. In normal warriors, the yoma side eventually takes over the human side and awakening occurs. However, it appears as if his human flesh has fused with the yoma flesh within him, creating an entirely new being."

"What does this mean?" Teresa asked curiously.

Riful let out a smile as she added:

"If my guess is correct, then this should mean that he has the best of both worlds. He has the power of an awakened being, while still keeping his human form, and keeping his sanity."

"Are you saying that you are insane?" Teresa teased.

"Well all warriors lose most of their sanity when they awaken, and I am no exception I must admit. However some warriors lose it more than others, I guess that I am one of the lucky ones as I still have most of my memories before my awakening"

"So I am a monster?" Raki said gloomily as he lowered his head in angst.

"No…you are the next step in the evolutionary tree. You have the potential to match the agility, strength, stamina and regeneration of powerful awakened beings, you should be really happy about that"

"Well, I must admit I do feel great…in fact, I have never felt so good in my life."

* * *

It was late at night as Raki woke to the sound of heavy boots trotting through the soft earth around him as he lay against the trunk of a large tree. He opened his eyes to see a figure standing in front of him. He recognized the figure to be Teresa, as the campfires weak light barely illuminated half her face. He noticed a warm smile on her lips as she leant closer to him and whispering:

"Raki, come with me"

Raki didn't know what it was that Teresa wanted, but he was curious to find out. He slowly got to his feet, making sure that he wouldn't wake Clare who slept against another tree trunk near him. He followed Teresa through the darkness of the forest until they arrived at a small lake. The area around the lake was illuminated slightly by the moon's silver rays as it reflected against the surface of the water, making everything slightly more visible. Teresa walked to the edge of the lake as she spoke:

"Raki…I know there is something you are not telling me and Clare."

Raki felt a wave of uneasiness flow through his body as he shakily replied: "what do you mean?"

"I couldn't help but notice your reaction when Audrey said the name 'Priscilla'. You immediately stopped in your tracks and lied to Clare"

"I didn't lie to Clare" Raki concurred.

"You just lied again Raki."

"How do you know?"

"People who lie tend to avoid eye contact, their facial expressions are unnatural and stiff, and they twitch their limbs, usually touching their own bodies, whether it being their nose, ears or hair" she paused for a moment as she added: "When you answered Clare… I could see you force out a smile, while you unnecessarily scratched your head and avoided eye contact"

"I don't have anything to hide…" Raki replied, making sure not to show any of the symptoms of lying that Teresa just mentioned.

Teresa let out a sigh as she added: "Raki…you are such a terrible liar…Now that I told you the symptoms of lying, it seems you are forcing your body not to show them, which only makes it more obvious that you are lying."

Raki couldn't even find the words to Reply to Teresa as he stared guiltily at her. She began to walk up to him, eyeing him closely as she added:

"Raki…you have no reason to fear me. I love Clare with all my heart, and because you are special to her…then you are also special to me."

Raki suddenly felt very comfortable being alone with Teresa. The longer he looked into her eyes, the more it felt as if Clare was looking right back at him. It was strange that he had only met Teresa a few hours ago, and he felt as if he knew her for a lifetime. Teresa had a commanding aura about her, an aura that radiated great power and respect, while still making him feel overly welcome and safe. It was the same feeling he felt when he first met Clare. As he continued to stare into her mystifying silver eyes, he couldn't find the strength in himself to lie to her any further. He turned to face the ground as he uttered in a miserable voice:

"I'm so sorry…"

"Just tell me the truth Raki…no matter how bad you think it is"

He raised his face to meet hers as he added: "This must be difficult for you to hear…"

She grabbed his hands and squeezed them gently, staring deeply into his eyes as she quietly spoke:

"You can trust me"

Raki let out a long sigh as he began to mutter the words:

"I…know Priscilla"

Teresa's face immediately turned a shade whiter as she let go of his hands from sheer shock. She looked deeply disturbed by what she had just heard, but remained silent as she waited for him to continue.

"I met Priscilla and Isley when I was in the north seven years ago… and ever since Isley separated from us, Priscilla and I have been travelling together for the past seven years as I searched for Clare"

Teresa was so overwhelmed by shock, that she looked like she needed a place to sit down. She never thought that his secret could have possibly been this big. She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, in an attempt to clear her mind. After a few seconds she opened her eyes and returned her gaze upon a guilty looking Raki.

"Are you absolutely positive that this is the awakened being…Priscilla?"

"Yes" he replied.

Teresa returned to the edge of the water as she stood silently with the wind playing gently with her hair.

"Thank you for telling me this Raki" she said calmly as she watched the water splash gently against the edge in front of her. She turned to face him as she added:

"Raki…promise me that you will never tell Clare about this. She is overwhelmed by hatred for Priscilla, and trust me when I tell you that she won't take this as well as I have"

* * *

as I said I had some trouble dealing with all the drama in this chapter.

Any ways, please review and voice your opinion. I will read them all.

Stay tuned!


	26. Chapter 26

enjoy.

The ghosts were rather surprised when they woke late the following morning. Miria was always strict with time management, always making sure that things are completed at a specific time. She always used to wake them up barely after sunrise, when the color of the sky was still a bright orange. Seeing the sun so high in the sky when they just woke up was totally new for them, and it certainly wasn't a bad thing in their books. As they rose from their sleep, the ghosts were surprised and pleased to see Miria sitting on the branch of a tall tree, overlooking the vast forest around her. There was something different about their captain, she seemed far more relaxed and at ease than usual. The fact that she allowed the rest of them to sleep in was proof of that. It seems that the recent information she heard about the organization from Audrey had removed a massive weight off her already burdened shoulders.

As Clare sleepily rubbed her eyes, she turned her gaze to the tree Raki slept against, but was alarmed when she saw no trace of him. She then turned her face to where Teresa slept but saw no trace of her either. Puzzled, she got to her feet and frantically scanned the area around her for any sign of them. She could see that Dauf had finally regenerated his arms as he sat on a group of rocks with Riful, and the rest of the ghosts were scattered around randomly in their usual groups.

"So your up," Audrey announced next to her.

Clare turned to face Audrey who sat against a large log with Helen and Deneve as she replied:

"Where's Teresa and Raki?"

Audrey pointed to a tree a small distance away as she added: "The two of them have been there for a while, Teresa told me that she wanted to talk with him."

Clare could see two figures sitting on a tree branch in the direction Audrey pointed to; she immediately recognized them both as Teresa and Raki. The branch they sat on was connected to a rather large tree that grew awkwardly to the side, as if it was pushed over by a large force or blown over by a hurricane. It was a harsh contrast to the other trees around it, as it was twisted and bent. Because the tree was growing to it's side, the branch they sat on was close to the ground, and their feet almost touched the grass beneath them.

As Clare walked towards the tree, Teresa and Raki noticed her as they gave her a wave from the branch they sat comfortably on.

"Slept in again I see" Teresa said as Clare approached the branch.

"I don't know what's wrong with me, I'm not usually like this" Clare replied.

"How did you sleep Clare?" Raki asked.

"Not bad"

"Clare…Raki told me stories about your adventures with him," Teresa said as she looked worriedly into her eyes: "There were quite a few close calls for you"

"It was nothing" Clare brushed off, as she sat in between the two on the branch.

"He even told me about the time he stopped you from awakening…but none of that matters anymore, because your reckless days are over. There is no way you are doing anything like that when I'm around"

"What's wrong Clare?" Raki asked concernedly as he saw her lower her head.

"I…I still cant believe it," she mumbled.

"Can't believe what?" Teresa questioned.

Clare raised her head with a small smile on her face as she added: "I still can't believe that both of you are back. It feels surreal that you two are sitting on either side of me, as if it's a dream."

"I assure you Clare…I am no dream, and I will never leave you again," Teresa said serenely as she brushed her hand gently against Clare's cheek.

"I know…" Clare answered shyly.

Teresa turned her attention to Raki as she spoke: "You told me that you want nothing more than to be strong enough to protect Clare, so why don't you prove to us that you can?"

"What do you mean Teresa?" Raki questioned.

"Well it would be interesting to know just how strong you are Raki, don't you think Clare?" Teresa said as she turned to Clare.

"I don't know…" she replied sounding uncomfortable with the idea.

"Don't tell me you're afraid that he'll beat you?"

"I'm not afraid of that"

"Then why don't you test him out?" Teresa asked cheekily.

Clare let out a sigh as she turned to face the now adult Raki. There was a small part of her that didn't want to fight him because of the fear of loosing to him. She already felt inferior compared to Teresa, and it would really be a blow to her self-confidence if Raki were stronger than her to. However at the same time, she was proud that he was a capable fighter of his own.

"Are you ready Raki?" Clare asked.

"Sure Clare…" Raki replied nervously.

Both of them left to grab their claymores that leaned against the side of the trees they slept against, whilst closely eyeing one another. Neither wanted to fight the other, but both of them had a deep curiosity about their upcoming fight. Raki wanted to know how close he was to Clare in terms of strength and agility, as almost all his life he wished he could fight like her, to protect her from any enemy.

They both grabbed their claymores and walked in front of the twisted tree Teresa sat against. The other ghosts immediately took notice of the upcoming match, and began to crowd around Teresa's tree, as the wavy haired warrior leant back further, making herself more comfortable. All the attention has even attracted Miria, who could be seen standing next to a nearby tree.

"Don't be afraid to give it your best, I have gotten much stronger within these seven years. If you find an opportunity to hurt me, then take it." Clare announced to Raki, who stood a small distance in front of her.

"I will prove to you that I am strong enough to fight by your side Clare, but I don't want to hurt you…" he replied.

"Alright then Raki, attack me when your ready" Clare said as she held her claymore with both hands in a defensive position.

Raki seemed to hesitate for a while, but eventually he held his claymore with confidence. He braced himself in attack position, and ran towards Clare, swinging his weapon towards her torso, and as he expected, it was easily blocked. With each successive attack, he stepped his game up a little, adding more strength and speed into his blows. His ferocious attacks eventually forced Clare to begin moving backwards, while she continued to defend herself. In due time, Raki's attacks were so difficult to block, that she even had to jump backwards to avoid some of the swift blows that smashed against the ground, scarring the soft earth with a large crack.

"Very impressive Raki, your attacks have incredible strength," Clare yelled as she leaped backwards, avoiding one of his powerful blows.

"However it is still not good enough,"

Raki's face turned to surprise when Clare rapidly swung her claymore towards him, hitting the hilt of his blade, forcing his weapon out of his hands as it flew through the air and landed on the ground nearby.

"Your attacks are devastating, but they lack coordination, it was easy for me to figure that out in battle" Clare said as he stood awkwardly in front of her.

"I'm still not used to this new body…" He replied as Clare lowered her blade with a smile firmly planted on her lips.

"I am quite impressed Raki, you are good."

"I'm still not strong enough…" he replied sadly.

"Your strength is impressive, you only lack coordination. Once you learn how to properly use a claymore, who knows how strong you will be"

"You mean it?" he answered with a glimmer of hope.

"Did you not see me jump away from your attacks? I couldn't even block some of them" she replied.

Suddenly, they could hear the sound of someone clapping as they turned to face the direction of the sound. It was none other than Teresa, looking at them both with a cheerful smile planted on her lips.

"He isn't bad is he Clare?" Teresa said.

"But Clare is right," Teresa added as she faced Raki. "Your attacks are very uncoordinated and messy. But don't worry, you have potential, and with time you will improve vastly."

"Teresa, do you think I will soon be able to protect Clare?" he asked.

Teresa let out a slight chuckle as she answered: "Don't worry Raki, I've got that covered for now"

"But what about that awakened being with us, Riful… what happens if she decides to kill us all?"

"If she decides to do that, then I will have to kill her before she does so" Teresa replied coldly.

"But she's an abyssal one…" Raki responded fearfully.

"I know that"

"Are you really that tough?" he asked excitingly.

Teresa didn't say a word, she just crossed her arms and lowered her head with a pleased smile on her gentle face. That gesture alone, assured Raki that the strongest Claymore of all time stood right there before him.

After their initial sparring match, Miria assembled the ghosts together for a meeting to inform them about her plans. They returned to the same place where they heard Audrey's information about the organization, with Miria sitting on the same large rock overlooking the others. The ghosts waited for Miria to begin as they nervously stood nearby, leaning against various trees and broken logs. Miria suddenly cleared her throat, crossed her hands as she began to speak:

"I have given it some thought, and I do not believe that scouting the lands is worth doing anymore"

"What do you have planned Miria?" Tabitha questioned.

"I believe that we have the numbers and the power to topple the organization," Miria added.

"Well with Teresa and Riful, it should be easy" Helen naively boasted.

"Never underestimate your enemy Helen, it could be the last thing you ever do,"

There was a short silence as Miria's wise words echoed through the minds of the ghosts.

"I know for certain that there's definitely a few things they are hiding up their sleeves, nevertheless, I believe the time to strike is now." Miria spoke.

Their captain scanned each and every face in front of her as she added: "I asked you this before, and I will ask you again. This mission could be suicidal, and if you wish to take no part in this then so be it. I cannot tell you what to do with your life, so if you choose to leave this rebellion, then I would understand."

There was another moment of silence as the ghosts processed Miria's words deeply.

"You are our captain Miria, and we will follow you to whatever end" Helen announced proudly through the silence.

"We are in this together, I won't live with myself If I left now" Deneve added.

"We're with you Miria" Cynthia and Tabitha said together.

"I am too" Uma spoke.

All eyes turned to Clare, Teresa, Audrey, Riful and Dauf who stood near each other, leaning against various trees.

"I don't like the stupid organization, I've always wanted to take my revenge on them" Riful said childishly with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Count me in" Audrey answered.

"I'm with you Mir…"

"Wait Clare," Teresa interrupted, looking worried as she eyed the shorthaired warrior. "This is very dangerous, I don't want you to put yourself in such danger"

"Teresa…" Clare mumbled submissively.

"Clare please don't consider doing this" Teresa plead.

"I can't just let them go themselves…besides, they need us Teresa" Clare answered sounding more confident.

"I just think that the fight might attract unnecessary attention…"

"You're talking about Priscilla…" Clare muttered angrily.

Raki and Teresa both froze in astonishment as they heard Clare mention that name. Indeed that was whom Teresa was referring to, but she wasn't expecting Clare to point it out so boldly. The rest of the ghosts now fell silent as they watched the drama unfold in front of them. Teresa let out a heavy sigh as she spoke:

"Clare…it doesn't matter who I meant, the point is that it's dangerous"

Raki wanted to indirectly talk about Priscilla to Clare for a while now, but he never had the chance to until now. He summoned the courage to speak the words:

"Maybe Priscilla can be like Riful… I mean…she could be our ally."

A dead silence like no other fell upon the ghosts as they all stared at the young man with astonishment, wide eyed, as if unable to believe what they just heard. The only sound existent was the gentle howl of the wind, and the way it faintly rustled the leaves and bushes around them. Among them, Clare was the most disturbed by what he had said. She was so overwhelmed by emotion, and confusion, that her facial expression didn't take a definite form, as if she was mentally unable to respond to him. She stared at him with an emotionless, dumbfounded look on her face for a short moment, until anger found its way out as she held her hands in a tight fist.

"I wouldn't expect you to understand Raki…" Clare said angrily through her teeth. "Priscilla took everything from me…I saw her slice Teresa's head off with my own eyes when I was only a little girl. I had to carry my one and only friend's head for miles so I could become what I am. Don't you see? My only purpose is to destroy her, to rip her to pieces and make her pay for what she did."

"Clare…look around you, what do you see?" Teresa concurred, slightly raising her voice in frustration.

Clare took a moment to look around herself, and then returned her gaze back to the wavy haired warrior looking confused, as if she didn't know what it was Teresa wanted her to look for.

"You think that your only purpose in life is to kill Priscilla, you are so blinded by rage that you fail to see the bigger picture"

"Bigger…picture?" Clare mumbled softly, sounding uncertain about what Teresa meant.

"Look at all these warriors around you," Teresa added. "Do you think they want you to go and fight Priscilla? Do you think I want you to fight her? And what about Raki? What do you think he will do if you are killed?"

Clare took a moment to look sadly at Raki as Teresa continued:

"Clare, if you are killed, Raki will probably follow the same path as you and try to kill Priscilla himself. Would you want that? Would you want him to die?"

"N…no" Clare stuttered, sounding like Teresa's words hit deep into her as she looked into Raki's brown eyes.

"I cannot believe you Clare. You think that Priscilla has made your life so horrible, when the truth is that it is you who is making it horrible. You chose to disobey me and become what I didn't want you to be, and you chose to devote your life to a meaningless goal, while you distanced yourself away from any happiness. For as long as I can remember, I too have tried to hide my emotions, and pretend like my only purpose in life was to live as a tool to be manipulated by the organization. But after meeting you Clare, I finally understood what it is to be happy, what it is to feel love, and be loved. Even though it led to my eventual downfall, I would do it all over again without even a shred of doubt in my mind."

Clare stood silently to herself as she listened to Teresa's emotional speech. She felt rather guilty as she stared at the heartbroken warrior, who looked sadly back at her. A tear ran down Clare's face as she wrapped her arms around Teresa and sobbed quietly to herself. Teresa placed her hand behind Clare's head, holding it gently against her chest as she comforted her little girl.

"It's alright Clare…I'm here for you," Teresa assured with her gentle voice. She took a moment to look at all the faces around her as she added: "…we're all here for you"


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27 finally.

Why did yagi kill off Riful!!! Noooo.

Hopefully she will pull off a deus ex machina…I still have hope.

Anyways I hope you guys had a great Christmas, and if you didn't, then hopefully this will cheer you up:

Enjoy!.

* * *

As Teresa and Clare held each other in a tight embrace, Miria leant forward from the rock she sat against and cleared her throat to grab the ghosts attention.

"Teresa, Raki, Riful, Dauf and Audrey…there is something I should have told you guys a while ago,"

The five of them stared at the captain with great curiosity, as if they knew what she was about to say was of upmost importance. Teresa let go of her embrace with Clare as she eyed the captain with a mystifying look on her face.

"I suspect that this very land is nothing but a small island…"

"What are you talking about?" Teresa asked sounding confused.

Miria let out a long sigh as she added: "We have been lied to by the organization. They made us believe that this world consists only of this island and nothing more. The truth is that there is a much greater land, a mother continent outside this one."

"I assume you have some proof?" Teresa scoffed.

"Wait…Miria might be right," Audrey suddenly spoke. "During my time in the organization, and working with their experiments, I have come across many things that I could not explain."

"Such as?" Miria questioned.

"I accidently stumbled across a piece of important paper while I was in the organizations laboratory… it mentioned a shipment of some kind, I believe it was a shipment of weapons and armor. I didn't make much notice of it then, but now that I think about it, it does seem to support your theory."

Miria couldn't help but let out a proud smirk. With this piece of information from Audrey, she was absolutely certain about her theory. If there was a shipment of weapons and armor to this island, it must have come from another island, an island where the materials to create them can be found.

She got to her feet, standing high above the others as she stood on the large rock:

"There is a war raging in this great continent, a war between two sides. One of the sides has assumed control of great dragon-like beasts, and has been dominating the war so far. The other side established the organization on this very island to help combat these creatures,"

Miria could see that the five of them were fascinated with what she had to say, as they stood in silence, patiently awaiting her next words:

"This island is nothing more but a laboratory for awakened beings, the organization created the yoma, and used them to create humans that can turn into monsters….in other words…awakened beings. The purpose of this organization is to create controllable awakened beings, to fight against the dragon-like creatures the other side has allied itself with."

"I can't believe it…" Teresa muttered.

"I am nothing more than an experiment?..." Riful said with a look of astonishment.

Audrey let out a slight smirk as she spoke: "That explains why Rubel was so insistent on releasing you Teresa and Raki. He must be a spy for the other side."

"Now that you mention that name, he was the one who told me much of what I know." Miria added.

"I'm not surprised by anything when it comes to Rubel…" Clare said.

Teresa raised her head to face Miria as she spoke: "Alright…I'm in"

"Me and Dauf are in as well," Riful said angrily.

"Then we will return back to Rabona to plan our attack" Miria wisely announced.

* * *

Miria had told the ghosts that it was a wise idea to take a different route back to Rabona, as the organization could have detected the fight they had with Riful, and sent some warriors to investigate. She didn't want to risk being found in such a critical point in their mission. They left the safety of the forest and began to walk towards the northwest, instead of heading straight towards the north. The land there was rather rocky, containing many steep cliffs with little to no vegetation.

As they marched up a steep rocky hill they noticed something peculiar at the crest of the hill. They could see steam escaping at the top, as if the hill was actually some sort of volcano. As the ghosts made their way to the summit of the hill, the source of the steam was made obvious. The top was remarkably flat, containing no grass or plants, instead, there was a rocky hot spring in the middle with two large boulders on either side of it that contained, if only a little, the steam that oozed out of the water. Because the steam was contained, it condensed into a thick fog that hovered above the water, reducing their visibility greatly. The ghosts weren't sure how large the hot spring actually was, as the steam only allowed them to see a few meters into it.

Helen wasted no time walking towards it, kneeling against the rocky edge, and placing her hand in the heated water.

"The waters great" she yelled back to the others.

The rest of them gave a look at their captain as if they were unsure of what they should be thinking. The sun wouldn't set for a while, and they didn't know if they had the time or luxury to rest in this hot spring at such a crucial stage in their mission. Most of them however, felt a little guilty for wanting to go in, but the last thing they wanted to do was disappoint their captain with such naïve thinking.

Miria scanned the faces that were locked on to hers. She could see that most of them wanted to rest here, but none had the courage to tell her so.

_This could be one of our last days alive…_

_Why not enjoy life while we can?_

_It will only increase their morale._

"We will rest here" Miria announced with a little smile as she planted her claymore into the rocky ground, creating a large crack in it.

A few sighs of relief could be heard and even a few slight cheers as the ghosts planted their heavy claymores into the ground as well. Teresa was the only one of the who didn't seem thrilled by what Miria had said, as she walked up to the captain with a serious face and stood stubbornly next to her with her arms crossed.

"I don't think this is a good idea, this place is perfect for an ambush"

Teresa awaited for Miria's response, but after not hearing one, she turned her head towards her in frustration only to see the captain lost in her own thoughts. Miria seemed to completely ignore Teresa's words as she continued to stare at the ghosts who talked excitingly amongst themselves, as if they forgot, if only for a moment, the fact that they were soon going to war.

"Look at them Teresa," Miria said. "They are about to attempt a suicide mission in the next few days. I want them to enjoy their lives until then"

Teresa watched the rest of the ghosts who stood on the edge of the hot spring, chatting happily amongst themselves. None of them seemed brave enough to get in the warm water first, and some of them seemed slightly embarrassed about the idea. Still, it pleased her seeing Clare with a smile on her lips as she stood in the group, with Raki close to her side, the boy who loved her greatly.

"If we cannot survive an ambush here. Then we had no chance to topple the organization anyway…let them be human for as long as they can" Miria wisely added.

"I suppose your right…" Teresa smiled, leaving Miria and walking towards the ghosts and a nervous Raki.

Raki stood awkwardly next to Clare as Helen began undressing in front of the others. He felt quite uncomfortable having so many females around him, and having to share a hot spring with them.

"Oh common Raki, you don't have to be embarrassed!" Helen laughed.

"You should try to see this from my point of view!" He replied as he used one of his arms to cover his eyes.

"Helen leave him alone…" Clare said as she stood defensively next to him.

"Oh common, it cant be that horrible for you…you might even see Clare naked!" Helen teased.

"I'm not a pervert!" Raki yelled, blushing greatly.

"Or all of us naked" Cynthia added as she playfully wrapped her arms inappropriately around him.

"You know what…I think I'll just find the other end of the hot spring and leave you guys to some privacy…" Raki said shyly.

"Raki, we've already seen each other naked…I don't know what your so afraid of." Audrey announced, not realizing what she had just said until it was too late.

Clare gave Audrey an odd look, then worriedly turned her face to Raki. For a split second her eyes showed a glimmer of sadness, as if she was heartbroken by what she had heard. He wasn't sure exactly what Clare was thinking, as she was quite good at hiding her thoughts, but that split second look of sadness she gave him was something he never wanted to see again.

"Well…While me and Audrey were together, we had a swim in a lake, that's all" he dismissed.

He could see evidence of relief on Clare's face as she gave him a gentle smile.

"Raki, you don't have to do anything you don't want to" she said softly.

Before he could answer, he was interrupted by the sound of Helen jumping into the hot spring, spraying the unsuspecting ghosts with water.

"Helen you idiot!" Deneve yelled as she stood at the edge half soaked.

"Oh don't be like that!" Helen yelled back as she tilted the back of her head into the water, wetting the rest of her hair.

"I'm going to punch you so hard when you get out of there" Deneve said angrily.

Suddenly an extended arm shot it's way out of the hot spring, grabbing a surprised Deneve, and pulling her into the steaming water. The ghosts let out a chuckle as they watched Deneve playfully wrestle in the water with her friend.

"I don't really like the water, I'll just sit on one of those boulders with Dauf" Riful spoke as she grabbed Dauf's hand and jumped to the top of one of the large boulders that sat on the side of the hot spring.

The rest of the ghosts immediately began to undress and make their way into the hot spring, all except Clare and Raki, who watched as Teresa approached them.

"Are you going in the water Teresa?"

"No Clare," she smiled gently at her. "I think I'll keep watch and keep a lookout for enemies"

"I'll go with you Teresa…" Raki added. "It's too awkward for me to stay here…"

"You don't have to be shy Raki, just ignore Helen and everything will be fine" Clare said.

She turned to the wavy haired warrior as she added with a hint of desperation: "Teresa, at least try the water"

"Aright Clare…" Teresa sighed heavily, tilting her head down in surrender. She took a step towards the edge of the hot spring, knelt down, and placed her right hand in the bubbling water. It felt exceptionally warm on her skin, a feeling she had never experienced before. During her time as number one in the organization, she would occasionally pass by a river or a lake and enter the water for hygiene reasons, but she always distanced herself from luxuries such as this. Her philosophy back then made her believe that she was something less than human, a creature that didn't deserve to enjoy itself, and only lived for a single purpose, to serve the organization blindly.

Even though she enjoyed the warmness of the water on her skin, that philosophy was still deeply imprinted into her mind. She had already surprised herself for taking a liking to human beds, but this was something that she just couldn't do at this moment in time. It was her way of thinking for almost her entire life, and it wasn't something that would escape her overnight.

"The water is very warm Cla…"

Teresa was stunned when Clare unexpectedly pushed her, causing her to loose her balance and hurtle into the water with a splash. Before Teresa could even think, she felt the overpowering warmness of the heated water surrounding her like a protective cocoon that overwhelmed her with a sudden rush of pleasure that raced ecstatically through every nerve in her body. It was at this moment she realized just how badly she needed this, immediately regretting her constant denial for any pleasure that life offered her.

Teresa pushed her head towards the surface of the water, and as she broke through the surface, she could see a Cheeky Clare chuckling to herself with Raki.

"Clare you naughty girl!" Teresa yelled playfully from the neck deep water. "You're going to pay for that!" she added as she made her way to the edge.

Miria let out a sigh as she watched Teresa chase Clare mischievously around the edge of the hot spring, with both of them acting more like schoolgirls than warriors. Teresa proved too quick for Clare, easily managing to catch up to her and throwing the squirming warrior over her shoulder. Clare's efforts to escape were futile as the powerful warrior walked over to the edge of the water, tossing the wriggling Clare into the pool before her.

Teresa turned to her side to see Raki laughing hysterically at what had just happened, as she hastily pushed him into the water as well.

"I told you you're going to pay for that" Teresa smiled with her arms crossed, totally soaked from the water. Her wavy hair was no longer, as the weight of the water straightened it out, changing the once pure blond color to a darker one.

"You might as well come back in the water Teresa" she could hear Clare say from the hot spring.

"Do I have a choice in the matter now?" She sighed as she removed her soaked suit, throwing it against the rocky ground, and entering the water.

Clare let out a slight blush as the wavy haired warrior approached her, leaning against a nearby rock with a pleased smile on her face. They both lightheartedly chuckled to themselves as they watched Helen attempt to force off Raki's clothes.

* * *

The next morning, the ghosts continued their journey towards Rabona, travelling through the rocky terrain of the West. They had stayed in that hot spring well until nightfall, with even Miria joining in later on. The captain could already feel the benefits of the hot spring, feeling as if a breath of fresh air filled the lungs of her comrades as they marched through a valley. The valley was quite a large one, looking like a once massive river flowed from the very ground they stood on. On either side of them stood massive rocky slopes that reached at least one hundred meters high. At the top of the slopes was the slightest evidence of vegetation, which only meant that they were getting closer to the plain lands that surrounded the great city.

"At this pace, we should reach Rabona by nightfall" The captain announced from the front of the pack.

"I wonder if the organization will be expecting an attack," Tabitha questioned.

"I don't expect any less from them, they probably have some kind of failsafe plan," Audrey added.

"We should have the power to overcome anything they throw at us," Miria said.

"I wonder if our old handlers are still in the organization…" Uma spoke.

"It would be funny to see the look on their faces when they see us" Helen laughed as she kicked a small rock out of her way.

"Hold on a sec…" Tabitha announced, suddenly stopping to a halt with a puzzled look on her face.

"What is it Tabitha?" Miria asked as she and the rest of the ghosts stopped to a standstill, eyeing Tabitha with great curiosity.

"There's a yoki aura approaching us…"

"Can you identify it?" the captain asked.

Tabitha took a deep breath and closed her eyes, fully concentrating on the aura that was near them.

After a short while she spoke: "I believe it is an awakened being…it is…" Her sentence was left incomplete, as she abruptly turned silent, returning to her full concentration.

"Tabitha what is it?"

"It is…a very powerful one…" she shakily replied. "If I am reading this aura correctly…i..t….it…."

"Tabitha speak clearly" the captain spoke as she gently placed her hand on her comrades' shoulder and looking deeply into her eyes.

"We need to get out of here now!" Riful suddenly yelled with a face frozen in fear.

The group promptly turned to face a frightened looking Riful. Each one of them knew that something was wrong, but none so much as Teresa. Clare was baffled at Teresa's reaction, her face showed signs of panic and terror, a look that Clare had never noticed on her calm face before.

"Riful's right we need to run now!" Teresa yelled to the surprise of the rest of the ghosts.

"Teresa…what's wrong?" Clare gently asked, trying to calm her down by placing a hand on her arm.

"It is rapidly approaching us, we must go now Clare" Teresa roared.

_I didn't think that she would be this powerful…_

_I'm not sure if I can beat her…_

_I can't guarantee Clare's safety…_

Teresa feared the worst when she saw Clare's face suddenly change to an emotionless pale white. Clare stood in front of her frozen like a statue, as if something enormous had caught her attention, something colossal. Her eyes seemed to peer right through Teresa's body, almost as if she didn't exist, or wasn't important enough to take notice of anymore.

"Clare, I know you sense it too, but we must run now!" Teresa yelled again.

_Oh no…it's too late… she's here._

The ghosts shakily turned their heads to the source of the overpowering yoki that suddenly arrived. Before their eyes, standing high above on the edge of the enormous cliff beside them, stood a silhouette of a figure in front of the blinding rays of the sun.

"Priscilla…" Clare grumbled with gruesome hatred in her voice.

The figure continued to stand on the edge of the Cliffside, looking down into the valley below. The ghosts were so overwhelmed by the enormous yoki the figure radiated, that most of them barely found the strength to stand on their own two feet, let alone hold their claymores. Teresa bravely moved in front of the ghosts, pulling out her claymore and holding it tightly in her hand.

The ghosts were startled when the figure suddenly leapt off the cliff, gently landing a small distance in front of them. As the dust cloud of her landing dispersed, they could see a female figure with short brown hair, wearing a torn brown cloak that danced in the wind. Teresa didn't need to sense yoki to recognize Priscilla. She looked exactly the same to her as when they fought all those years ago, apart from her now brown eyes, and slightly longer brown hair.

A deathly silence set foot as Priscilla stared emotionlessly at the ghosts, as if sizing up each and every one in front of her. She didn't seem aggressive in the slightest as she continued to stand there patiently. Teresa could sense the rage building up in Clare, and the fear building up in the rest. She abruptly turned to an enraged Clare who furiously muttered under her breath the words 'kill' over and over.

"Clare, I want you and the rest to run," She said trying to sound as brave and as confident as possible.

She wasn't sure if Clare was even listening to her as she slightly raised her voice in an effort to grab her attention, making her nervousness more apparent:

"Clare… don't worry about me," she spoke as Clare finally took notice of her.

"I'll take care of this, I want you and the rest to run as fast as you can and don't stop. I'll catch up to you later" Teresa lied as she released a forced smile.

* * *

Next chapter will be up soon. Sorry for the cliffhanger.

Please review!


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28.

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope that this is a satisfying encounter with Priscilla. I think that it is, but what really matters is what you guys think. (I'm trying to please everyone XD)

I pretty much threw in every possible thing I thought would make this scene as cool as possible, and I am pretty happy with the result.

Note: I was going to split this into two chapters….but as with chapter 14…I decided not to.

Anyways, please review and tell me what you guys think, I would really appreciate it =)

* * *

Clare found it difficult to say anything to Teresa, looking as if she was torn between anger and fear. Her eyes were furiously locked on to Priscilla, barely managing to glance at Teresa, even when she heard the desperate sound of her voice. For most of her life she dreamt about killing Priscilla, and not only killing her, but making her suffer, killing her slowly until she died a miserable death to make her pay for what she did. She couldn't find it in herself to run, as this was the moment she had been waiting for, ever since she lost Teresa.

Before Clare could respond to Teresa's plea for her to run, her heart skipped a beat as Priscilla placed one foot in front of the other, and began to confidently walk towards them. Noticing this, Teresa immediately leapt in front of Clare, using her own body as a shield to protect her from the incoming threat. Teresa kept a firm grip on her claymore, whilst making sure to sense every minuscule movement of yoki within Priscilla's body in an attempt to anticipate any sudden attack.

Teresa tried her best to remain as calm and as confident as possible, but deep down within the core of her being she was absolutely terrified of this monster that approached her. She had never encountered someone so powerful before, someone that might be even stronger than herself. Priscilla's yoki was so massive, that if felt as if an enormous dam deep within her had ruptured, leaking out colossal amounts of never ending yoki.

"Don't take another step" Teresa demanded.

Priscilla stopped in her tracks as she turned to face the wavy haired warrior that stood a small distance in front of her. It was obvious from the look in her eyes that she had no intentions of fighting any of them, almost as if they weren't even worth her time.

"I am not interested in weak babies, do not get in my way" She replied in an emotionless tone.

Teresa was expecting Priscilla to immediately recognize her, but was surprised when she gave her a lazy, sluggish look, instead of that furious look she was expecting. It also seemed that Priscilla was unable to recognize her yoki aura, because of the way she remarkably suppressed it.

_The minuscule amount of yoki that my body is emitting is too small for Priscilla to recognize from all those years ago…_

_Because she doesn't physically remember me, and cannot read my yoki aura, it appears that I am completely invisible to her, a warrior who she deems to weak to be of any threat to her…_

_So if it wasn't my aura that led her here, then what has caught her attention?_

"Are you after Riful?" Teresa asked sounding far more confident than before.

Priscilla didn't even respond to her as she continued walking towards the rest of the ghosts. A rush of anxiety raced through the group as the monster came uncomfortably close to them, with that disturbing, emotionless look on her face. Teresa desperately wanted to move herself and Clare out of danger, but any sudden movement might catch Priscilla's attention, and that was something she didn't want to risk.

Teresa held her claymore tightly, bracing herself for any attack Priscilla might unleash as the monster approached her. As she suspected, Priscilla completely ignored her, walking past her almost as if she didn't exist. Before she could release a sigh of relief, a sudden rush of nervousness raced throughout her body as Priscilla abruptly stopped to a halt next to her. A drop of sweat ran down Teresa's face as Priscilla turned her attention to her, giving her an odd stare.

"Your face does look familiar…" Priscilla said as she moved her hand towards Teresa's face.

"Don't…." Clare muttered furiously under her breath, as she stood next to Teresa with her hand in a tight fist, staring furiously into her mortal enemy's eyes.

Priscilla abruptly turned her face to the shorthaired warrior as Clare continued:

"Don't you dare touch her you monster…."

To the horror of everyone, Clare swiftly swung her claymore in an uppercut, removing Priscilla's hand before it could make contact with Teresa's face.

The ghosts immediately braced themselves for Priscilla to retaliate, but were astounded when Priscilla didn't seemed to react to the attack at all. She seemed much too interested in Clare to even realize her hand had just been severed. Priscilla continued her odd stare at Clare who now began to recklessly emit her yoki, whose eyes changed from silver to a brilliant gold.

"Your yoki…it feels familiar to me…" Priscilla said softly as she stared deeply into Clare's eyes.

_Oh no…if Clare releases her yoki any further… then Priscilla will recognize my aura in her, and she will most likely try to kill her…_

"Clare! Stop it! Don't release your yoki!" Teresa roared next to her.

Clare seemed to ignore Teresa's words as she continued to release her yoki to the point where her muscle mass began to increase considerably. Teresa started to panic at this point, knowing that Priscilla might recognize her distinct yoki aura within Clare at any moment. The monster's eyes began to widen from curiosity, looking more interested in Clare with each passing second.

"Please don't fight each other!" They could hear Raki yell from behind, as the man made his way towards them.

The three of them immediately turned to face him with a mystifying look.

"Raki…get out of here" Clare yelled with a monstrous voice.

"No Clare…listen to me…" Raki pled.

Before Raki could continue, Priscilla's attention returned back to an infuriated Clare. Her emotionless facial expression suddenly changed to one of deep curiosity, as if she finally recognized the yoki that flowed within her.

"T…Teresa…" Priscilla muttered with surprise evident in her voice.

Noticing this, Teresa swung her blade towards Priscilla's neck as swiftly as she possibly could, hoping to end a fight even before it started. Her eyes widened with disbelief as Priscilla avoided the cold metal at a speed even she struggled to keep up with, and sensing her yoki reform behind her. She threw her blade in the rear, aiming for her neck once again, but her attack was cut short as the blade was caught by Priscilla's powerful arms.

"Now I remember…you are Teresa" Priscilla muttered, as she held the blade with her enormous strength, while eyeing Teresa closely.

"I'm going to do what I should have done all those years ago!" Teresa roared as she let an enormous amount of yoki flow throughout her body, changing the color of her eyes to a brilliant gold. It was such a long time since she had ever had to release such an amount of yoki, and it felt amazing finally releasing what she kept holding back for years. The only other time she had ever released more than ten percent of her yoki was when she threatened Riful a few days ago, but this was something else, something beyond even that. She figured that she tapped into about thirty percent of her full reserve of yoki, fearing that she might not be able to hold back the rush if she went any further. It had been too long since she had done anything like this after all.

Priscilla immediately let go of Teresa's blade as she avoided Clare's attack from behind, pacing herself a small distance away from the two warriors. She landed gently on a large rock, with her eyes firmly locked on to the both of them.

"Clare, I want you to run now" Teresa said as she turned her head to Clare who stood beside her, trying to sound as calm as possible.

"There is no way I can do that Teresa…I won't be able to live on if you are killed again…"

"Clare…"

Clare turned her face to Teresa as she added in a gallant tone:

"If you are to die again, then let me die with you"

"Clare…I…." Teresa muttered sadly, but lowered her head in defeat. She knew that there was nothing she could possibly say to change Clare's mind. It pained her knowing that the two of them will probably meet their demise, but she respected Clare's wishes too much to go against her.

"If we are to die Clare… I just want you to know that you were the best thing that had ever happed in my life…and I am glad to have met you" she gently smiled.

"I won't let you guys have all the fun," a childish voice announced from behind them.

"Oh I thought you were going to run away" Teresa replied as Riful walked up to them, stopping next to Clare.

"Of course I thought about it…" Riful answered "But I would have to fight her at some point in the future anyway, and our chances are greatly increased if we work together"

"Riful…" Dauf whimpered as he walked up from behind, grabbing her hand.

"Dauf, I want you to join the rest of them, you're no match for her, I don't want to see you getting killed" Riful said in a surprisingly warm tone.

"Alright Riful, but promise me that you will stay alive" he cried.

"I promise Dauf, now get going"

After a slight hesitation, Dauf returned to the rest of the group with his head towards the ground in sadness. Riful turned her attention to Teresa and Clare as she spoke:

"I crossed my fingers when I said that, I know that we will probably not survive" she said sadly.

"Clare…." Another voice announced from behind them.

Clare turned around to see Raki standing before her, with his eyes locked firmly on to hers. She didn't know what he wanted, but at this point she didn't care. She didn't want him to get involved in such a dangerous fight and potentially loose his life.

"Raki, go with Dauf"

"Clare…Priscilla is not the enemy…" He muttered submissively, as if he wasn't sure what kind of reaction to expect from Clare.

"Raki…get away now before I force you back" Clare grumbled furiously as she clenched her teeth together tightly.

"Priscilla doesn't know what she's doing!" Raki yelled back.

"Raki, unless you can stop her, get the hell away from here!" Teresa roared as she gave him a furious look.

Raki looked as if he wanted to mutter something back to her, but gave up shortly after. He didn't know if Teresa could defeat Priscilla, and he dreaded the idea of loosing either one of them. When Priscilla first jumped off that cliff and revealed herself, his heart sank as he no longer saw that little girl that fit snuggly on his shoulder. He knew that she would eventually give in to her hunger, and it pained him to see that she has.

He looked up at the powerful figure that stood on top of a large rock a small distance in front of him, a seemingly ordinary human girl with short brown hair and brown eyes.

"Priscilla please stop…please don't kill Teresa…" he plead.

Priscilla turned her attention to him as she replied:

"Get away from them Raki, they are the enemy, Teresa is helping the yoma"

"No Priscilla, you are wrong…Teresa is not the enemy!" He yelled back furiously.

Priscilla continued to stare at him for a while, looking as if his words didn't register in her mind. Then, without delay, she returned her eyes back on to Teresa, back on to her enemy.

"I'm sorry for this Raki" Teresa said.

Before Raki could respond, he found himself being grabbed by the powerful warrior, who threw him back towards the group. His fall was stopped by a few of the warriors, who grabbed him before he made contact with the ground. Teresa gave the others a serious stare, sending them a message to keep him restrained.

She then returned her attention back on to Priscilla, who didn't even seem to respond in the slightest to the sight of Raki being thrown around like a toy. It seemed that Priscilla's mind was completely focused on killing her, blanking everything else out of existence.

"Why are there two of you?" Priscilla said sounding rather confused. "You both feel like Teresa, but only one of you look like her."

"I am the one they call Teresa of the Faint Smile, former number one of the organization. It is me you want" Teresa proudly announced with her claymore raised.

Priscilla now locked her eyes firmly on to Teresa, with her emotionless face now showing the slightest evidence of disgust.

"You are a traitor Teresa, I cannot forgive you for what you have done."

"Don't you dare even talk to her you bitch! I'm going to rip your limbs off and shove them down your throat!" Clare roared with unimaginable hatred in her voice, releasing even more yoki into her already transforming body.

"I do not know who you are, but I am not interested in you in the slightest." Priscilla replied.

That struck a nerve deep within Clare. It was humiliating for her to hear that, humiliating that the one she wanted to kill her entire life had absolutely no interest in her.

"Clare calm down…at this pace…" Teresa said worriedly next to her, but her words were cut short as Clare leapt towards Priscilla with her blade drawn ready to strike.

_What is she doing?_

Teresa immediately went after Clare with blinding speed, grabbing her by the leg before she reached Priscilla and threw her back to where Riful stood. Riful immediately awakened her arm and used it as a cushion to break Clare's fall as Teresa darted back to them with the same blinding speed.

"Clare you can't just charge in like that!" Teresa said furiously.

"Don't try and stop me…" Clare grunted feverishly.

"Clare listen to me, there is no way you…" Before Teresa could finish, she felt a sudden flow of yoki rush towards Priscilla's feet as the monster dashed towards her with amazing speed. Priscilla was so fast in fact, that her movement seemed instantaneous, barely even disturbing the air that surrounded her body. Teresa only just managed to thrust her claymore in front of herself, using the blunt side of her blade as a shield to block an otherwise fatal attack to her torso.

Riful immediately extended her arm towards Priscilla, forcing her to dodge the attack and once again pace herself backwards, back onto the rock she stood on earlier.

"This isn't good…she is faster than I thought" Teresa noted with a hint of fear.

"But you're just as fast... aren't you? Riful questioned in a nervous tone.

"She is still in her human form and yet I am barely able to make out her movements," Teresa uttered "My yoki sensing is severely limited because of my yoki release, but without it, I'm afraid I just wouldn't be strong enough to keep up with her"

Clare hated herself for not being fast enough to react to Priscilla's attack against Teresa. The two of them moved so fast, that in her eyes, it all seemed like a blur. She knew that if she wanted to keep up with the likes of Priscilla and Teresa, then she would have to release more power. More of that dangerous yoki that threatened to overtake her body, and make her become a monster like Priscilla. In the past she didn't care how she did it, even if she ended up awakening, killing Priscilla was the one thing she devoted her life to, the one thing that she would die doing.

Overwhelmed by anger yet again, Clare began to flood her body with even greater levels of yoki, adding more and more to her strength and agility. She could see Teresa's worried face as her yoki release caused the ground to shake, kicking dust into the air, forming a large dust cloud around herself.

Teresa could feel the movements of yoki within Clare's body, and was concerned and confused at the same time as she noticed most of Clare's yoki was directed towards her legs. As the dust cloud disappeared, Teresa was horrified to see Clare's legs transformed into hideous looking ones, legs she would expect to see on an awakened being, and not a warrior. The lower part of her legs was a dark purple, and bent in such a way that it looked as if they were designed to act more like springs, much like those of an insect. Instead of having feet, Teresa could see what she identified as hooves at the bottom of those monstrous legs, hooves that no doubt were designed to increase her speed dramatically.

"C..Clare…what….happened?" Teresa stuttered, barely able to comprehend what her eyes were showing her. It broke her heart seeing her Clare like this, so close to loosing herself and becoming a monster.

Clare moved her still transforming face to Teresa, a face that reminded Teresa of the battle she had with Priscilla so long ago, the battle where Priscilla awakened. Clare's face was making bone-crunching noises, as the very structure of her face was being reformed. Her eyes turned to the deepest of yellows, and her mouth expanded to twice it's normal size, with razor sharp teeth poking out of that sinister looking grin on her face.

"Teresa…with these legs, I am able to keep up in this battle." Clare grunted with her deep, almost monstrous voice.

"Clare…turn back now, your using too much yoki!" Teresa wailed.

"Your forgetting one thing Teresa…." Clare answered, taking a slight pause, as if she had to concentrate on holding back her yoki that threatened to take over her body "I am half awakened…I have far greater control over my yoki."

"Alright Clare, I believe you…" Teresa reluctantly replied with a sigh.

"Impressive…so much control over your yoki…" Riful remarked.

"We attack together," Teresa said as she lifted her claymore in an offensive position. "Try to overwhelm her."

"I won't go down without a fight" Riful said proudly as her body split into hundreds of ribbons, and reforming a moment later into her true form.

Teresa gave them both a serious look, then turned her gaze towards their enemy. "We charge in three…two…one...charge!"

Teresa and Clare charged towards Priscilla with dazzling speed, while Riful wasted no time launching a volley of her fleshy strips in an attempt to impale her.

Clare was stunned when she noticed Teresa overtake her as they both charged towards Priscilla. She was so sure that with her new legs she would be able to keep up with her, but it was obvious to her now that Teresa was still a superior warrior in every aspect. Even though Teresa was still about twice as fast as she was, Clare was just glad that she managed to obtain a speed that even remotely made her worthy to fight by her side.

Time itself seemed to slow down as Clare watched Teresa approach Priscilla in front of her with her blade drawn. Teresa pulled her claymore behind herself, and swiftly thrust it towards Priscilla who managed to dodge the attack by hastily jumping off to the side. Clare could feel a rush of adrenalin flow through every canal in her body, as she finally got close enough to her mortal enemy to deliver a blow against her. She swung her steel towards the seemingly unsuspecting Priscilla, but was alarmed when Priscilla also evaded her attack rather effortlessly. Missing her attack, Clare almost forgot how uncontrollable these legs of hers actually were, as she found herself speeding towards the side of the cliff. She closed her eyes as she made impact with the rocky wall with a bone crushing impact.

Shaken, but not injured, Clare removed herself from the rubble of rocks she buried herself under as she returned her furious gaze back on to Priscilla. She could see Teresa desperately trying to hit the seemingly invincible enemy with her blade, while Riful continued to launch volley after volley of her razor sharp strips. Priscilla however, mockingly dodged every attack the two of them threw at her, with both of their successive attacks slicing through the air instead of her body.

Grinding her teeth from anger, Clare pelted her awakened legs against the ground, rocketing herself back into the battle, while tightly holding on to her weapon in her main hand.

The three of them continued their assault against Priscilla, who now seemed to struggle to avoid all the attacks directed towards her. Clare knew that Teresa's blows were the most threatening to Priscilla. She could barely believe the velocity the wavy haired warrior managed to achieve with her sword swings, and the incredible technique she used with it. Teresa's technique seemed like perfection, directing her blows to the most vulnerable places against their enemy. Her attacks were so smooth, not even showing the slightest evidence of a hiccup in them, with each successive swing paving the way for yet another that seemed to flow so naturally and efficiently towards their target.

As the fight persisted, a harsh realization suddenly became apparent to Clare. From the very beginning of their battle, Teresa had not only been attacking Priscilla, but she had also gone out of her way to the point of compromising her own safety, and sacrificing some of her attention off the enemy to protect her from Priscilla's attacks. Clare couldn't believe how ignorant she was to only notice this now, realizing that her very presence in this battle was nothing but a handicap for the wavy haired warrior.

Unexpectedly, Priscilla released a massive wave of yoki that created a large shockwave in the air around the three warriors, filling the area around them with a blinding fog of dust and dirt. The shockwave was so powerful, that Clare and Teresa were forced to stab their claymores into the dirt and tightly hold on to them, so they wouldn't be swept away by the powerful hurricane that passed them.

As the dust cloud began to disperse, Clare almost fell to her knees from the shock and terror of feeling a colossal wave of yoki race past her like a mighty stream that threatened to overpower her body. It felt as if the very air around her was choking with this overpowering fog of yoki, a level of yoki that Clare could barely contemplate. It felt so unimaginably huge and dense, her body began to tremble from horror, as if every cell within her body was warning her of this monstrosity that was before her.

As the last of the dust and dirt left the air around them, they could see a transformed Priscilla standing calmly a short distance in front of them. Her skin changed to a bright purple, standing about two meters tall with a single horn on her forehead and a pair of wings on her back. Her eyes were firmly locked on to the three as she took one step towards the terrified and cautious warriors. Seeing this monster before her, Clare immediately knew that she was way in over her head, realizing that Priscilla was far more powerful that she had ever imagined.

"Teresa…I have come for your head" Priscilla spoke calmly in her seemingly calm, inhuman voice.

Teresa turned her face to a frightened Clare as she with fear evident in her eyes, as she spoke with a trembled voice: "Clare...run away now…"

Clare understood the command, but her body was so overwhelmed by fear and shock that it refused to listen to her. Her heart began to beat faster and faster as the one horned monster slowly approached them with that emotionless look they were so used to. It was the same face she remembered from when she was a little girl, the face that didn't show the slightest look of guilt or blame for murdering Teresa before her young eyes.

As Priscilla drew near them, Riful, with her awakened body, launched a volley of her razor sharp fleshy strips towards her, but to no avail. Priscilla only needed a simple flick of her wrist to brush the enormous strips away from her, changing their trajectory and making them smash into the cold dirt instead.

Before Clare could even react, Priscilla suddenly appeared in front of her with those deep golden eyes that stared intensely into her own. They were the eyes of the individual she devoted her life to killing, the individual she hated more than anything. Time seemed to stop altogether as Clare stared deeply into the abyss that was Priscilla's eyes, an abyss that made her loose her mind from unimaginable fear and hatred. Her body and soul were so overwhelmed by horror, that she couldn't find the strength, or the willpower to even lift a finger, let alone a claymore.

It was all a blur when she suddenly felt a mountain of pain race through her body. She couldn't even comprehend what had just happened as she fell to her knees, bleeding from the gut where Priscilla's sharp claws tore right through. Her vision began to deteriorate as Priscilla became nothing but a purple smudge in front of her, and her hearing slowly fade away as the world around her turned a ghostly silent. The next thing she saw was a cold blade pass through the purple smudges chest, and with that, she closed her eyes and surrendered to the pain.

"C…l….a….r….e" a distorted voice moaned near her, but it was much too fuzzy to properly make out. It sounded like a distant voice in a large cave, a voice that echoed many times over, making it unrecognizable.

"Clare!" the voice said again, this time sounding clearer.

Clare opened her eyes to see Riful back in her human form, laying on the cold dirt next to her. She could see that Riful was badly injured, as she bled furiously from almost everywhere. She was missing both her legs, and had a large hole in the middle of her chest, and blood smeared all over her face and her hair.

"W…where is Teresa?" Clare struggled to say from the pain she was in, as she shakily sat up, placing her hands on her forehead.

"She is fighting Priscilla," Riful replied in a voice that implied that she was in a lot of pain. "I was knocked out shortly after you, this Priscilla…is a monster"

Clare turned her head to see two blurry figures a short distance away, engaged in a furious battle that was so intense; she could feel the very earth beneath her shake from the colossal blows the two delivered against each other. The two steep cliffs on either side of the valley were showered with bruises from powerful impacts that fractured the hard rock, threatening to destroy the Cliff sides completely.

Clare tried to focus her eyes on to Teresa, but her eyes were not quick enough to keep up with the blinding speed her and Priscilla moved at. Clare felt a wave of nervousness rush past her body as she felt Teresa's distinct yoki from the overwhelming fog that was Priscilla's. Teresa's yoki was indeed much greater than before, and she feared that she might have already awakened in her fight with Priscilla.

"Teresa hasn't awakened yet," Riful assured, as she dragged herself closer towards a worried Clare. "But I'm afraid she might have too"

Clare gave Riful a look of horror as she let the injured little girl continue:

"Teresa has obtained roughly the same speed and strength of Priscilla, but she is at a major disadvantage,"

"Disadvantage?" Clare said sounding unsure of what Riful could possibly mean as she turned her attention to the battle before her.

"Priscilla can afford to be hit by Teresa's blade as her body can heal remarkably quickly, but Teresa isn't so lucky. Priscilla only needs to hit her once and it's all over."

"How close is she to…awakening?" Clare asked anxiously, as if she was expecting an answer she knew she wouldn't like.

"I suspect she's already passed seventy percent"

"Past seventy percent…" Clare whispered worriedly under her own breath.

Clare returned her gaze back onto the titanic battle before her. With her eyes rendered useless because of the blinding speed the two travelled at, her only means of seeing the battle each other was with yoki sensing. She began to concentrate solely on the Teresa's yoki, which was a difficult task because Priscilla's yoki was so massive that it threatened to drown it out. But with her determination and concentration, she managed to isolate it. She could now feel Teresa, feel every flow of yoki within her and every movement in her body that the yoki flow corresponded to.

She could sense that Teresa was fighting at her limit, forcing massive amounts of yoki towards her limbs, acting as a super charge to force them to keep up with the awakened Priscilla. Clare could feel that Teresa's body was on the very edge of awakening, and she knew that it must have taken an incredible amount of willpower to overcome it, especially for a warrior who rarely ever uses her yoki.

Clare felt like that little girl once again, sitting in the sidelines as a spectator to the battle, only able to watch as Teresa fought for their life. It angered her greatly knowing that there was nothing she could do to help her, knowing that she was once again too weak to be of any help. Even after devoting herself to killing Priscilla after all these years, it felt cruel that she had to return to this dreaded situation yet again, with the only thing she could do was hope that Teresa was going to come out alive. She tried to filter out the doubt in her mind, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't do it, couldn't get that soul shattering fear of loosing Teresa for a second time to the same dreaded enemy.

Her soul felt as if it was being cleanly ripped out of her body from the horror of suddenly sensing Teresa in great pain. Her eyes widened in sheer disbelief and terror, and the world around her immediately returned to that ghostly silence as she saw Teresa falling from the Cliffside with a shower of blood plaguing the air around her, a fallen angel that was heading towards the earth, defeated by the power of darkness, an angel that lost it's wings, and with it, all hope.

Tears fell from Clare's eyes as she desperately tried to get to her feet so she could run towards Teresa, but her deep wound to her abdomen prevented her from doing so. She didn't care for the pain, but her body refused to listen to her, refused to move, as if it has given up on itself.

She could only watch as Teresa met with the cold dirt a short distance in front of her. She lay there motionless, with the only sign of movement being her blood soaked wavy hair, as it danced in the wind. Clare refused to believe her eyes, refused to believe that Teresa was killed yet again before her. The world around became blank as it faded out of existence, and the only thing she could see was this fallen angel before her, a bruised and bloody angel. For a moment, Clare's mind was too distraught to feel any sort of emotion. Seeing Teresa lay there like that made her want to give up on life, give up on this meaningless existence that she held on to so far. She knew that she could never defeat Priscilla on her own, and she only wished that Priscilla would kill her too.

She didn't want to live without her angel.

Her withered heart suddenly began to pump with new life as she noticed Teresa slightly move her left arm. It wasn't much, but she saw it, and it was all she needed to breathe new life into her already frail body. Her heart began to pump faster as Teresa shakily got to her knees, but was horror-struck to see her missing her dominant right arm, bleeding furiously from where it used to be.

Clare's few seconds of joy were immediately tarnished when the one horned beast landed behind Teresa with a loud thud, creating a tremor in the earth for all to feel. Teresa, who was already unsteady on her feet, almost fell over from the powerful tremor, as she stubbornly stood her ground. Priscilla leisurely began to walk closer to Teresa, approaching her from the back, with that all to familiar emotionless look planted on her face.

"Teresa, you aren't as powerful as I thought…is there something wrong with you? Priscilla said mockingly with her inhumane voice. "I managed to cut off your arm rather easily, perhaps I will also take the other"

Teresa's weakened body gave way as she collapsed to her knees, using her remaining left arm as her only means of balance, preventing herself from falling over. Her transformed body slowly reverted back to normal, with all her increased muscle mass vanishing, and the deep gold in her eyes changing back to their original silver state.

Clare was distraught seeing Teresa in such a condition only a few meters in front of her. Her mind couldn't decide whether to be overwhelmingly furious at Priscilla or overwhelmingly heart-wrenched at the thought of loosing Teresa. She desperately wanted to protect Teresa, protect her from this monster that was threatening to end her life, but she knew that she was powerless to stop Priscilla from taking Teresa away from her again.

Clare could see tears flowing down Teresa's distraught face as she gradually turned to face her. Her eyes showed a sadness that Clare has never seen before, a sadness that dug itself down deep into the core of her being. Her face showed such terrible misery, as if she was overwhelmed by despair, by darkness, and had just given up all hope.

"I'm sorry Clare," she sobbed through her salty tears, as she knelt against the ground before Priscilla. "I'm… sorry I wasn't strong enough to protect you…"

Clare desperately wanted to reply to her friend, desperately wanted to tell her how much she means to her, but her lips were frozen solid from inconceivable fear and shock. She could see Priscilla standing proudly in front of her friend, staring at her with those demonic eyes, eyes that wanted nothing more than to destroy the wounded warrior in front of her.

"This is the end of the line Teresa," Priscilla announced coldly "You and your traitor friends will die right here"

Priscilla began to raise one of her arms towards a kneeling Teresa, threatening to use it to end her life. As her fingers began to expand, racing towards Teresa, Clare closed her eyes, not wanting to witness Teresa, her best friend being murdered in cold blood once more. She lay there, only a few meters away from Teresa, dreadfully expecting to hear the sound of Teresa's impending death.

Instead she heard a sound she was not expecting.

Clare opened her eyes, and was in shock to see Priscilla's razor sharp needles impaled into a different body, a body of a mysterious figure who stood defiantly in between them both, using it's own body as a shield to protect Teresa. She could see Priscilla's face ignite into surprise, almost showing regret for what she had just done.

Clare could hardly believe her eyes when she identified the figure as Raki, who bled furiously from the wound in his chest, while staring at the monster before him. This was something she never wanted for him, an unnecessary death by Priscilla. She wished that the others would scatter and survive, but seeing Raki impaled by Priscilla broke her already broken heart.

"Raki…what are you doing?" Priscilla asked in an astonished tone, looking dumbfounded by what had just happened.

"Priscilla…what happened to you?" Raki pled as he stared furiously into Priscilla's eyes, with his own teary ones: "Why are you acting so strange? So obsessed with killing Teresa, I have never seen you like this"

"Raki get out of my way…Teresa is the enem…"

"No you're wrong Priscilla… Teresa is not the enemy, the true enemy is the organization"

"Teresa is a traitor," Priscilla hissed.

"Do you even know why Teresa betrayed the organization?" Raki roared in a furious tone.

Priscilla continued to stare at him oddly, with a bewildered look evident on her face. She was so puzzled by his words, that she didn't even realize that her extended fingers were still deeply impaled into his chest.

"Because she wanted to protect a little girl she found, protect her from bandits that wanted to do terrible things to her! Did the organization tell you that she did it out of love?"

"Love?" Priscilla mumbled, in a far less confident tone, sounding as if she was now unsure of what it is exactly she wanted to do.

"That little girl she saved is laying right over there!" He yelled as he pointed to an astonished Clare. "She witnessed you murder Teresa over ten years ago! That was when you became what you are now, an awakened being!"

"I…killed…Teresa?" Priscilla babbled with a look of astonishment on her already confused face.

"Her name is Clare, and you murdered Teresa before her eyes. Teresa was the only family she ever had!"

"Family…" Priscilla said sadly as she turned her face to Clare.

"And now the organization has brought Teresa back to life, do you really want to take Teresa away from her again!"

Priscilla gradually began to retract her extended fingers, pulling them out of Raki's wounded chest and then turning her gaze back on to Teresa, who lay almost lifeless behind him.

"I…Irene...Noel….Sophia…..they were the ones I was with when I was sent to take Teresa's head. I didn't want to kill her…but she betrayed the organization" she paused, looking as if she was trying her hardest to piece back her memories so she could finish her sentence: "She betrayed the trust the humans had with us, and that is unforgivable…"

"Priscilla…the organization is the enemy! They are the ones who created the yoma in the first place!" Raki yelled, as he placed one of his hands on his deep wounds on his chest, while still standing steadily upright.

Priscilla's eyes began to widen from disbelief, as she continued to stare at him, this time with far more intensity than before. Her face showed signs of doubt, as if all that she knew was a lie, as if her entire world had been tipped upside down.

"The organization…killed my family?…my papa?….everyone?" she spoke with bafflement.

"The organization abducted me a few days ago and changed me into what I am! Didn't you even realize that I have yoki flowing through my veins? Or were you to obsessed with killing Teresa?"

"They abducted you?...but…you were a human…they wouldn't do that…"

"They have lied to you Priscilla, lied to all of us. They don't care in the slightest for humans!"

Priscilla began to walk backwards, looking rather unstable on her feet. The puzzled look on her face accelerated to something far more complex, looking as if she was unsure of what to do. She gave a look at Teresa, and then returned her gaze to Raki.

"What have I done?..." Priscilla said remorsefully, as she placed both her hands in front of her, and staring intensely at them. Her body began to revert back into her human form as she fell to her knees in tears, sobbing quietly to herself:

"I…only wanted to protect humans….I…never wanted for this to happen"

Seeing her mortal enemy in such a vulnerable state was too much for Clare to ignore. She forced her wounded body to it's feet, not caring for the pain or how much blood she would loose. Step by step she gradually made her way towards Priscilla while dragging her heavy claymore behind her. Her body was being fueled solely by her hatred for this monster, this monster that stole Teresa from her so many years ago.

Her heart raced ecstatically as she approached Priscilla, who was now on her knees with her head bobbed down, facing the ground. Clare had her eyes firmly locked on to Priscilla's neck, drunk with rage, as she hysterically dragged leg after leg closer towards her mortal enemy. This was the moment she dreamed about, the moment she devoted her entire life to.

_This is it…_

_It all ends here…_

_Priscilla_

_You are going to die right here and now!_

With only a meter separating Clare and her ultimate revenge, Raki unexpectedly jumped in her way, abruptly blocking her off.

"Clare you can't!" he begged with a look of desperation on his face.

"Raki move out of my way now!" Clare roared with monstrous hatred in her voice. He could see that she was intoxicated with rage, and not able to think things through. Despite her warning, he refused to move as he stood in between the two stubbornly, trying desperately to knock some sense into her.

Intoxicated with rage, Clare used all the strength she could muster to knock Raki out of the way, with a clean punch to the side of his face. The force of Clare's fist launched his body off to the side, landing rather violently on the cold dirt with a look of shock on his face.

Clare took a step towards her fallen enemy that lay so vulnerably In front of her with her head lowered towards the ground. She had completely lost her mind to anger and revenge at this point as she stared hysterically at Priscilla. She forced her shaken hands to lift her heavy iron over her head, ready to thrust it towards Priscilla's neck.

_This is it_!

With a look of madness, she began to plunge her claymore towards Priscilla, but immediately stalled as Priscilla turned her face to meet her own. Her face was drenched in tears as she stared intensely into Clare's eyes. She looked so weak, so innocent as she continued to stare at Clare with her almost childish, sparkling eyes.

_What am I doing?_

_Why didn't I finish it?_

_Why am I still stalling?_

_What's wrong with me?_

"Why did you hurt Raki?" Priscilla asked with a soft voice.

Those words struck Clare deeply as she continued to stand over a kneeling Priscilla with her claymore raised over her head. As much as it pained her to admit it, her mortal enemy was right, she couldn't believe that she had placed a hand on Raki. Clare's mind became berserk with strange thoughts, thoughts to kill Priscilla, and even thoughts that dared to spare her. It seemed so easy to take Priscilla's life right here and now, but something deep within her prevented her from doing so, and she hated whatever it was that that stopped her from bringing and end to her revenge she devoted her whole life to.

Her body suddenly surrendered to fatigue and the incredible pain as she fell to one knee, with her face mere inches away from Priscilla's. She cursed herself for not taking Priscilla's life when she had the chance, and could barely believe her mortal enemy lay so mockingly close to her, when she had no strength left to do anything. As she stared at Priscilla's teary face, she was comforted by Raki who wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"Clare…thank you for not killing Priscilla,"

Clare was so overwhelmed by a variety of emotions that she couldn't find it in herself to respond to him. It repulsed her being so close to Priscilla, still unable to comprehend the events that have taken place until this point.

"Cynthia is healing Teresa now….don't worry Clare, everything is going to be alright" he assured as he held her face above the ground, using the palm of his hand as a cushion.

"Bring me to Teresa" Clare asked with a voice that made it obvious she was in much pain.

"Just take things easy, your body can't regenerate as fast as mine…" he said as he placed both his hands under her frail body, and began to lift her up. Raki immediately stalled when Clare made a soft groan of pain, but a reassuring gesture from her told him that it was all right to continue.

As he held Clare in his arms, he walked over to Teresa, who was now accompanied by Cynthia and Miria. Both of them were kneeling down next to her with Cynthia channeling her yoki into Teresa, in an attempt to heal her wounded body. It was of great relief to Clare seeing the color return to Teresa's face, and the deep wounds in her body begin to retract.

Seeing Raki arrive with Clare, Miria immediately surrendered her spot next to Teresa, leaving it open for Clare to use instead. He lowered Clare carefully next to Teresa, making sure not to re open the wound in her abdomen that had already stopped bleeding. Teresa immediately turned her face to Clare, with a worried, yet slightly relieved look on her face.

"Cynthia…forget about me, heal Clare"

Cynthia knew that Teresa's wounds were far worst that Clare's. Her body was badly beaten and bruised, still missing her dominant right arm. She figured that Teresa's body was healed enough to at least stay alive, and after hesitating for a short moment, she turned her attention to Clare and began to heal her abdomen wound instead.

"Teresa…your arm…" Clare muttered concernedly.

"Don't worry Clare I'll be fine," she spoke as she sat up "I'm more concerned about you"

"Arms can be still be reattached even after they leave the body for a few minutes Clare" Miria assured.

Teresa then turned her attention to Raki, with her gentle face suddenly transforming into a serious one. He knew exactly what it is that she was going to ask him, and he tried his best to prepare the best possible answer in his mind.

"What of Priscilla?"

Lowering his head in shame he responded: "I think I got to her…I think it's safe"

"What do you mean 'you think'?" Teresa answered, sounding rather annoyed. He could see that she wasn't happy with that answer, but that was exactly what he was expecting from her anyways, he couldn't blame her for it.

"Raki…" Clare murmured quietly from below him.

"What is it Clare?" He asked.

"Why did you stop me from killing…Priscilla?"

Raki had no idea how to respond to what she had just said. He could see the confusion, and even a slight look of betrayal on her face, as she continued to stare at him strangely. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find the right words to give her the answer she so desperately craved. A droplet of sweat ran down the side of his face as the two of them looked into each other's eyes, but a sudden sound behind him caught his, and everyone else's attention.

They turned their faces to the source of the sound, only to be horrified to see a nude Priscilla standing before them. To the surprise of the others, she no longer had that sinister, emotionless look on her face they were so used to, and instead had a face drenched in tears as she stared at Teresa sorrowfully. She was holding Teresa's missing right arm with her own right hand, and used her left hand to wipe away her own tears that drenched her face.

Their hearts skipped a beat from the sheer shock of seeing Priscilla suddenly kneel before Teresa, and moving Teresa's decapitated arm back into place in an attempt to help her reattach it.

Teresa refused to believe her eyes as Priscilla, her enemy, the one who removed her head over ten years ago, was now trying to help her instead of kill her. For a moment she thought that this was a dream, something that she couldn't have even imagined, but as the bone and the muscles in her missing arm began to fuse back to her body, it was painfully obvious that this was no dream. She took a moment to look at Clare, who was just as dumbfounded as she was, if not more. However, Clare still had that undeniable look of fury in her eyes, eyes that showed the incredible hatred that burned deep within her. She knew that Clare's mind was aching to obliterate Priscilla, but her exhausted body physically prevented her from doing so.

When the arm was strong enough to remain attached on it's own, Priscilla wrapped her arms tightly around Teresa's thigh as she burst into tears. Teresa and Clare were bewildered as Priscilla began to open her mouth, attempting to mutter something through her tears. Her words made little sense at first, but as she continued to babble her words, it became clear what she was saying, or rather madly repeating over and over.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry…"

After a moment she lifted her teary face as she added:

"I…I'm a yoma aren't I?...please forgive me….please forgive me, I only wanted to avenge my papa and my mama…I never wanted for this to happen…My life is yours… do whatever you want with it."

Teresa seemed too surprised to even open her mouth and reply to Priscilla, but after a short while, she managed to cough out the words:

"Do not hold on to me like this…I am not your mother…and I am not your master either. Your life is yours and do whatever you want with it"

Hearing this, Priscilla then turned her attention on to the shorthaired warrior. Clare was startled when Priscilla began to crawl towards her, looking as pathetic as possible as she dragged her naked body against the cold dirt. Clare was shocked when Priscilla wrapped her arms gently around her waist, making sure to avoid the terrible wound on her abdomen, and digging her face against her body.

"You want to kill me don't you?..." she babbled in her sorrowful tone. "Do it…I'm nothing but a monster now…it is unforgivable what I have done to you...."

Priscilla then lifted her face to meet Clare's as she added:

"Does it hurt?" Priscilla sobbed as she glanced at the wound on Clare's abdomen. "I'm so sorry… please forgive me… If Teresa doesn't want my life…then I want you to have it…"

At this point, Clare's mind was beyond bewildered. She didn't care in the slightest that Priscilla was 'sorry' for what she had done, and was tempted to snap Priscilla's fragile looking neck as she continued to hold on to her, weeping like a little child. There was a voice deep in her mind that demanded her to ignore all that she had just heard and kill Priscilla, but for the first time since Teresa was killed, a new voice suddenly appeared, a voice that dared to tell her to spare Priscilla. After so many years, the gruesome hatred she felt for Priscilla was now deeply imprinted into her mind, and it was something she knew that would never escape her.

* * *

I spend quite a while on this chapter, I hope you guys liked it.

Please leave a review/comment as I am greatly interested about what you guys think.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Clare couldn't stand the way Priscilla wrapped her arms around her own waist, holding her like a child would hold its mother. She hated the way Priscilla stared at her, not with hatred or disgust, but with innocence and compassion. She tried her hardest to blank out the innocent looking girl that was before her, and instead, visualise that monster that took Teresa's head, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't do it and it infuriated her. She couldn't stand the fact that life had played such a cruel trick on her, making it almost impossible for her to fulfil her one goal in life, to kill Priscilla.

"G…et…off…me…" Clare grumbled in a voice that sounded as if the very action of communicating with Priscilla was physically painful for her.

Hearing this, Priscilla immediately let go of Clare's waist and got to her feet. She attempted to help Clare do the same, but a violent push from Clare immediately made it apparent that her help was not wanted.

The ghosts turned their attention on to Raki who began to approach Priscilla from behind, holding some sort of fabric in his arms. It became obvious that the fabric he held was actually the cape from his armor, which he must have ripped off.

"Clare…she was only trying to help…" Raki said as he wrapped the cape around Priscilla's naked body.

Clare couldn't find it in herself to respond to Raki. She was furious with him, furious at life, and furious with herself for not destroying Priscilla when she had the chance. Raki's heart sank when the only response he got from Clare was a cold shoulder as she tried to get to her feet. It was obvious to everyone that Clare was in much pain, and that she needed help to get to her feet, but none of them dared to interact with her in such an unpredictable and disturbed state. She eventually managed to stand, and turned her attention on to Teresa, who still lay against the cold ground.

"Are you strong enough to walk Teresa?" Clare asked concernedly as she approached her.

"I'll be fine Clare" she responded as she attempted to sit up, but her wounded body forced her to give up and lye back down.

Noticing this, Clare knelt down before Teresa, placing her arms underneath her. Before she could pick her up, Teresa's face turned to one of concern as she spoke:

"Clare…you're injured yourself…you can't lift me…"

"It's nothing" Clare brushed off as she proceeded to lift Teresa up in her arms. She held her in a bridal position, with one of her arms supporting Teresa's back and the other supporting her legs.

"Are you sure you're fine Clare? That wound on your abdomen is…"

"Teresa, I'm carrying you whether you want to be carried or not" Clare replied.

"I suppose there's no arguing with you now is there?" Teresa answered with a faint smile on her lips.

"We're leaving" Clare announced, as she turned her back towards the others, while holding Teresa in her arms, ready to continue the journey back towards Rabona.

"Clare is right, we cannot stay here for long Miria said in her commanding voice. She turned to face the rest of her squad as she added: "The organization might have picked up all the commotion, we leave immediately"

She turned to an injured Riful who was being held by Dauf as she spoke: "Are you alright Riful?"

"I've seen better days, but I'm fine" the little girl replied in Dauf's arms.

"Let's go" Miria finished, as she turned her back towards them and began to walk towards Clare.

"Clare…what do we do with Priscil…" Miria said, but abruptly cut her words short, realizing that Clare was in no mood of speaking to anyone.

"She won't hurt anyone…" Raki said from behind them.

An awkward silence set upon the group as he nervously waited for some sort of response, especially from Clare. However, Clare continued to stand defiantly where she stood, with her back coldly facing him, sending a clear message that his words meant nothing to her.

"Raki…" Clare suddenly announced, breaking the awkward silence, with her back still facing him. "I don't know exactly what Priscilla is to you...and I don't care. I only ask that if you continue to be with her…"

She paused for a moment, looking as if she thought deeply about her next words: "You stay away from me…"

The others could barely believe what Clare had just said, and the tone she used to go with it. Miria could see the shocked and distraught look on Raki's face. It was obvious that he also wasn't expecting anything like that from Clare. His face showed signs of guilt, and even some signs of betrayal as he continued to stare at his old friends' back. Miria was waiting for some sort of response from Raki, but after not hearing one, she walked up to Clare and gave her a nod, indicating that she was ready to leave.

"I'm going to follow you" Priscilla said from behind the rest of the ghosts, as they were about to leave.

"I suppose no one can stop you if you want to" Miria said confidently from the front of the pack, looking back at Priscilla who stood awkwardly by herself a small distance away from everyone.

Raki didn't know whether he should walk with Priscilla or with the ghosts. He wanted to walk with Priscilla mainly because he didn't want her to be by herself, but he knew that if he did, he might jeopardize his relationship with Clare permanently, and that was something he would never want. He decided to walk with the ghosts for now, but every so often he would glance back at the awakened being that he lived with for the past seven years.

The walk back to Rabona was rather long and uncomfortable for everyone. The group had been walking for a few hours already, and in that time, not even Helen could find the words to start even the smallest of conversations. Clare and Miria were at the front of the pack, while Priscilla stayed at the very back, lagging behind the rest of them.

"That's enough Clare…I can walk now," Teresa said softly from Clare's arms.

"Are you sure?" Clare asked, looking rather unconvinced.

"Put me down"

Clare reluctantly lowered Teresa's feet towards the ground, holding on to her tightly, making sure that she wouldn't fall over. At first it seemed that Teresa was strong enough to stand on her own, but almost fell over when she attempted to take a small step forward. Noticing this, Miria ghosted behind Teresa, gently breaking her fall.

"Teresa…don't be afraid to show weakness…we all know you cannot stand" Miria spoke.

Teresa lowered her face in sadness, knowing that she had been caught out. Indeed she was not used to being weak in front of others, and there was a part of her that still refused to believe that she barely had the strength to stand, yet alone walk. She especially wanted to be strong for Clare, and almost felt ashamed that it was Clare, the little girl who she saved from a yoma, that was taking care of her instead.

Clare could immediately see what Teresa was thinking just by looking at her face. She knew that Teresa was just as, if not more stubborn than herself. She gently grabbed Teresa from Miria's arms, holding her in the same bridal position as before.

"Teresa…you have taken care of me so many times…let me take care of you this time" Clare said warmly.

A little smile developed on Teresa's lips as the two stared into each other's eyes.

"Thank you…Clare" Teresa uttered softly as she closed her eyes and leant her head against Clare's shoulder, trying to get the rest her body so desperately craved.

"Teresa….you know you don't have to thank me" Clare replied gently.

Their short moment was interrupted by the arrival of Priscilla, who approached Clare and Teresa from behind. She began to walk closer towards the two, with a concerned look on her face as she eyed Teresa closely.

"What….do you want?" Clare grumbled furiously, lowering her head to avoid eye contact with Priscilla, as if the very action of looking at her made her sick.

"Teresa fell…and I want to make sure she's alright" Priscilla replied as she locked her eyes on Teresa, looking genuinely concerned.

"Your help is not wanted...get lost" Clare answered angrily.

"I'm glad to see that she is alright, is there anything you need me to do?"

Clare pretended that she didn't hear a word that Priscilla said, and chose to make that clear by taking a moment to scan her surroundings. She turned her attention to the edge of a steep cliff they had been walking by for a while now, and then returned her gaze back on to Priscilla.

"Jump off that cliff" Clare ordered coldly.

Priscilla took a moment to glance at the Cliffside Clare spoke of, and then returned her attention back on to her.

"Alright…" she said in a cheerless tone, sounding as if she was disappointed with what she had just heard.

After a short moment of hesitation, Priscilla began walking towards the edge of the Cliffside with a look of sadness on her face, but was stopped in her tracks as Raki stood in her way.

"You don't have to do that Priscilla," He said as he gave Clare an odd stare.

"Whatever" Clare brushed off with an annoyed look on her face, as she took a step forward, continuing the journey towards Rabona.

It was late at night when the ghosts finally arrived at Rabona, entering the great city through the usual secret southern side entrance. Priscilla continued to follow them the entire way, and Miria wasn't comfortable with the idea of such a monstrous awakened being following them back to their base of operations. It was obvious that Priscilla had no intentions on leaving the group any time soon, and there was nothing she, or anyone else in the group could do about it.

They walked through the streets under the cover of the darkness, until they finally arrived at the grand Cathedral, and proceeded towards the side of the great building, where the entrance to their secret base was hidden behind a thick bush. Miria, who lead the group, stopped at the bush and turned around, looking at all the faces that looked back at her. She eventually identified Priscilla standing all by herself a small distance away from the others as she out a large sigh. She didn't mind allowing Riful into their base, seeing as she had already proven herself and that she was injured, but Priscilla was another story altogether. Priscilla was even more powerful that Teresa, and the thought of being under the same roof as someone like that sent shivers down her spine.

The rest of the ghosts knew exactly what Miria was thinking, as they themselves were thinking the same thing. They nervously glanced at Priscilla who stood by herself a small distance away, then returned their gaze back to their captain, hoping that she would give them an answer to the question that plagued their minds.

"Just give Priscilla a chance…" Raki announced to the surprise of everyone, as he began to walk towards an astonished looking Priscilla, and putting a hand on her shoulder.

All eyes abruptly turned to Clare as they awaited for her response, but the short haired warrior seemed to ignore their curious gazes, and instead of responding to them, she gently lowered Teresa's feet against the ground, making sure that this time she wouldn't fall over. With a reassuring gesture from Teresa, telling her that she was all right to stand on her own, Clare released her grip from her as she set her gaze upon her comrades.

"I know that allowing Priscilla to be under the same roof as everyone is too much to ask right now, but are you alright with her staying on the rooftop overnight?" Raki asked.

"Whatever" Clare brushed off, sounding rather annoyed that she was forced to answer a question that involved Priscilla.

She then turned around and walked into the thick bushes, using her hands to move the leaves and branches out of her way as she opened the large door and entered the hideout, with Teresa closely following her from behind.

"Well I suppose that's the best response you can expect from Clare," Miria sighed as she turned to face Raki: "Just try not to push it too far alright? Clare can really be a handful…"

"I know…" Raki responded, lowering his head in sadness.

With that, all attention returned back on to Priscilla, whose body was still covered by the torn cloak Raki had given her. The cloak was barely large enough to cover her entire body, and the others knew that it must have been quite embarrassing and rather uncomfortable for her to continue wearing it like she did.

Miria let out another sigh as she turned her attention on to an embarrassed looking Priscilla as she spoke: "We can't just leave you out here with you wearing that… we have clothes inside that will be far more comfortable to wear."

The other ghosts could barely believe that Miria was brave enough to even speak to this monster that had defeated Riful and Teresa. They remained dead silent as they nervously awaited a response from her, not knowing what to expect.

Almost immediately after hearing those words from Miria, Priscilla's gloomy face changed to one of cheerfulness as she politely spoke:

"Thank you very much, I'm very sorry for inconveniencing you like that, and I don't mean to intrude"

Miria, like the others, were rather surprised to hear such a warm response from Priscilla, a response that made them question whether this individual standing before them was really the monster she was set out to be, or just another unfortunate fallen Claymore like themselves.

"You were a former number two is that correct?" Miria questioned.

"Yes…that is correct" Priscilla answered, lowering her head in sadness as if her rank reminded her of her dark past.

"My name is Miria, I am the captain of this rebellion, this is Helen, Deneve, Cynthia, Tabitha and Uma" she said as she pointed to each ghost: "and you already know Teresa and Clare obviously"

"A pleasure to meet you" Priscilla responded.

"Alright, you may briefly enter our premises, but only until we find you a new pair of clothes."

After finishing her sentence, Miria made her way towards the entrance of their secluded base, using her arms as a plough to move the leaves and branches that stood in her way. The rest of them immediately began to follow, With Raki and Priscilla staying at the very back, following the rest up the spiral staircase and entering a large room when they finally reached the top.

"Miria… I'm sure you don't need me to tell you exactly how powerful these awakened beings you brought back are" Galatea announced shakily as she sat against a table in the middle of the large room.

Clare immediately turned to face the direction of the newcomers, only to be disgusted seeing Priscilla standing among them.

"Thank you Galatea, but I am perfectly aware of how powerful these two are" Miria replied, sounding rather uncertain about herself.

"Tell me…that being with you…would that happen to be the one horned beast…Priscilla?" the blind warrior said with deathly fear evident in her voice.

"It just so happens to be…"

"I hope you know exactly what it is you are doing" Galatea informed in a wise, but doubtful voice.

"Raki, Priscilla, Audrey and Riful...This is our base of operations, and the place where we spend the night" Miria announced as she turned around to face them.

As expected, Clare, who sat next to Teresa on a table in the far corner of the room, hastily got to her feet and stormed towards the corridor, clearly disliking the idea that Priscilla was under the same roof as herself. Teresa, who now sat by herself, gave Priscilla, then Miria an odd stare as she spoke:

"Why did you allow Priscilla inside?" She sneered, with a tone that made it clear that she was also uncomfortable with Priscilla's presence.

"Only so we could give her an outfit, she only has a torn cape to cover her body." The captain replied.

"So now she wants to play dress ups? Teresa said crossly, folding her arms in incompliance.

Ignoring Teresa's obvious sarcasm, Miria walked towards the end of the room and opened a small compartment attached to the side of the wall. After scurrying through the contents, she eventually found a suit that matched Priscilla and pulled it out. The suit that she held in her hands was similar to the one Tabitha had given Teresa only a few days ago, with the exception of size of course. Priscilla was a smaller and thinner warrior that the former number one.

"This one should suit you fine," Miria said as she handed the suit over to Priscilla.

"Thank you" She responded as she grabbed the neatly folded suit with her right hand, while using her other hand to prevent Raki's torn cloak from falling off her body.

"Do you have a dressing room or something Miria?" Raki questioned, as he stood next to Priscilla.

"Yes, there is a room she can change in just down the hallway, second room to your right"

"Alright thanks, common Priscilla" he said as he gestured for Priscilla to follow him towards the hallway.

The two of them continued down the hallway until they arrived at the second door to their right. Raki turned to face Priscilla as he spoke:

"Go ahead Priscilla, I'll wait outside for you"

A nod from Priscilla made it clear that she understood what he had just said, as she walked towards the wooden door in front of her, giving it a slight budge to open it. She closed the door behind her as Raki let out a sigh, leaning against the side of the wall next to the entrance to the room.

_Why did Priscilla have to kill Teresa?_

_Of all the warriors that Priscilla could have killed that time…why did she have to kill the one who saved Clare's life?_

_Is this just a cruel joke?_

His thoughts were cut short as he noticed Clare walking down the hallway, looking as if she was returning to the others who resided in the main room. He found it strange that instead of feeling excited that she was near him, he felt rather uncomfortable and awkward. He could see her give him a strange stare as she began to approach him, walking towards him in such a manner, that he was expecting her to ignore him completely and walk right by him. He held his breath as Clare stopped to a halt next to him, turning her face to meet his. He could see that she was in a terrible mood, and he wasn't sure what she wanted, but he could only hope that she wasn't too angry with him.

"What do you think of the place?" she asked him in her ordinary tone, which was rather surprising to him as he expected something slightly more hostile.

"It's nice Clare…I never thought that you guys would be hiding in Rabona"

It was then when Clare gave him a serious look that indicated that her friendly nature was suddenly over. She gave him a serious stare, the same stare she gave him when she first realized that Priscilla and him had some sort of history together.

"Raki, you lied to me when you told me that little girl with you in Rabona was someone you saved from a village."

Raki didn't know how to respond to Clare's sudden change of tone. He wasn't naïve enough to think that there was anything he could say to make this situation any better, so he stood there, as silent as a statue, and let her do all the moves. He could see that she wasn't even expecting a response from him anyway as she turned her face away from his to meet the end of the corridor instead.

"The room which I came out from just now," she said in a surprisingly calm tone, while not even turning to face him: "is where we will be sleeping tonight, there is a bed for you"

"A…alright, thanks Clare" he said in a tone that made it obvious that he was quite nervous.

Noticing his nervousness in talking to her, Clare turned to face him, with the faintest evidence of a smile on her lips.

"Raki, don't ever think that I hate you" she said softly, flashing that smile one more time as she continued walking towards the others in the main room.

Raki knew in his heart that Clare didn't hate him, but hearing it from her felt as if a massive weight was being lifted off his shoulders. He watched her walk down the hallway until she finally turned a corner, then turned his gaze to the door where Priscilla resided behind.

The wooden door opened and Priscilla, wearing the clothes Miria had given her, walked out with a pleased look on her face. To Raki, she looked exactly like the other ghosts, but he knew that it would be tough to make them accept her into the group. This was especially true in Clare's case, and he hoped that he wouldn't have to eventually face a situation where he would be forced to make a decision whether to be with Priscilla or with Clare. He hoped that Clare would eventually let go of her hatred, and accept Priscilla for who she was, but he feared that might never happen, and that thought was always present in the back of his mind.

"You look nice Priscilla, you look good in it"

"Really? You think it suits me?" she said in a surprised tone, as she turned her gaze on to her own body, scanning every possible detail in the new clothes that covered it.

"You've changed for the better Priscilla, you seem more human than before"

"There's still a few things I cannot remember" she said as she placed her hands on her head: "But I remember most of it, including that time when we first met, and you pushed me out of the way of that falling rock."

"So you remember that?" he asked.

"I never thanked you for that Raki"

"Priscilla, you know you don't have to thank me" Raki replied with a smile.

"Not that the rock was going to hurt me anyway, I still appreciate it" she said cheekily.

Raki's face suddenly turned sour as he realized that Priscilla was overstaying her welcome. He knew that it was a privilege that Miria even allowed her to stay on the Cathedral's rooftops, and he didn't want to make the ghosts feel any more uncomfortable than they already were.

"Priscilla…" he muttered sadly.

"I know" she replied, knowing exactly what it is that he meant.

The two of them walked back to the main room where the others resided, only to be greeted with unfriendly, and even hostile looking gazes from the others. Clare returned to her seat next to Teresa, with the others sitting in other small groups near them. Miria calmly walked up to Raki and Priscilla, and pointed to a bookshelf at the far end of the room as she spoke:

"That bookshelf there is actually the entrance to the top of the cathedral. Behind It is a hidden door that leads to the top."

The two of them walked towards the bookshelf Miria pointed to, pulling it away from the wall to access the hidden door behind it.

"Good night Priscilla…" Raki said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

To the shock of everyone, Priscilla moved her face closer to a surprised looking Raki, and planted a soft kiss to the side of his face. She gave him one last smile as she left the room, entering the secret door in front of them, leaving him red faced as she shut the door behind herself.

Thanks for reading up to this point, and don't forget to review! It only motivates me further!

I would like to hear from all of you guys.

Thanks.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

* * *

LordAnthony: Thanks for the review, but I do not believe that you are correct when you say that Teresa's 70% yoki release makes her more powerful than Priscilla in her awakened form. I believe that when a claymore awakens, their power increases drastically, and not proportionally. An example is Priscilla when she fought Teresa in the manga, she was using around 70-80%. When she awakened, it is safe to assume that she isn't just that extra 30% more powerful than when she was at 70%. Irene even said that awaken beings are like no other, with unparalleled power. To simplify things, I do not believe that a claymore that is using 80% yoki, is only 20% weaker at that point than if he/ she awakens (100%).

In other words:

Priscilla 80% isn't 20% weaker than awakened Priscilla.

I hope you guys understood what I tried to say, and besides, Priscilla was supposed to surpass Teresa someday, so when she awakend, wouldn't her latent potential be released?

Anyways, enough of this….on with the story.

and dont forget to review :P.

* * *

The moment Priscilla planted that kiss to the side of his face, Raki knew that the following night was going to be an awkward one for everyone, and especially for him. He recalled the way Priscilla looked at him when she entered the door to the roof, and the way he felt at that moment. He suddenly had strange feelings about Priscilla, and he didn't know if he should be feeling them or not. He had spent far more time with Priscilla than with Clare, and in some ways, he knew her better than he knew Clare. For the past seven years that he had spent with Priscilla however, she had always acted strange, and never seemed to be completely aware of her surroundings or even him. In some ways, she acted more like an animal, sticking by him because she told him that he 'smelt good'. But during the recent fight with Teresa, it seemed that Priscilla had changed to her once human self, and it was both exciting and strange for him.

As he expected, Clare didn't say a word to him the entire night, and it was Helen who showed him where he would sleep. She showed him the common room, a large militaristic looking room with beds along the sides of the walls, where they all slept, and pointed to one of the free beds where he could sleep in. He kind of wished that it wasn't Helen who had showed him his bed, as he soon found that she was quite an unpredictable one, doing all she can to make him as uncomfortable as possible, not deliberately of course, but through her seemingly unfunny jokes. Of course she didn't go too far with her mischief, seeing as Clare was already on the edge of loosing her mind, and because of the recent events that have taken place.

Audrey had asked if it was all right with him if she slept in a bed next to his, which, of course he didn't mind, seeing as he was the closest to her than anyone else in the group. He and Audrey had found it quite amusing watching Riful and Dauf give each other an odd stare when they noticed there was only one bed left for the both of them. The two awakened beings tried their best to fit on the single sized bed, but were failing miserably, with Riful eventually kicking Dauf off the bed and forcing him to sleep on the wooden floor instead. To the horror of Clarice, Miata seemed to take a liking to Riful for some reason, even going so far as jumping on top of Riful's bed, catching her by surprise, and asking the awakened being to play with her.

All this drama was proving to be too much for their captain, as she lay against her bed in the far corner of the room, trying to filter out the noise by covering her ears with a thick pillow. Teresa and Clare, like Miria, were doing their best to try and ignore all the commotion that was unfolding around them, but it seemed that it was an impossible feat for them as well. Raki held his breath when Teresa suddenly got out of her bed, and stormed towards Riful and Miata with an infuriated look on her face. Clarice immediately ran to Miata's defense, apologizing to Teresa, and everyone about all the fuss Miata was causing. She eventually managed to convince Miata that it was not the time for play, and that everyone was tired. Naturally, the child continued to cause mischief, but Teresa's furious gaze was enough for her to stop what she was doing, and retreat back to Clarice.

* * *

The next morning, Raki woke earlier than usual, and quietly got out of his bed, making sure to make as little noise as possible as he sneaked out of the common room. All night he was worried for Priscilla, and wondered how she was doing all by herself on that lonely rooftop. He felt quite bad for leaving her all alone, but he was in a no win situation, and he knew it. If he had slept with Priscilla at the rooftop, his relationship with Clare would have immediately ended. At least this way, he can still hope to have a relationship with them both, with even the remote chance of Clare finally accepting Priscilla, but this was extremely doubtful and he knew it.

He silently walked into the main room, and froze when he saw Clare leaning against the fireplace, watching the flames dance in front of her. Noticing his presence, Clare got to her feet, and turned her face to meet his.

"You're up early Raki, it's barely sunrise" she said in her usual calm voice.

"I just couldn't sleep any longer…" he responded.

Clare returned her attention back onto the fireplace as she spoke:

"When me and the others were in the North, we constantly had to create fires such as this one." She said as she let out a warm smile, while staring at the fireplace: "The warmth of these flames had kept us alive even through the worst of blizzards,"

She then returned her attention back on to Raki as she added:

"But I'm sure you already know all this, seeing as you've been in the north"

"Well, I only spent a brief amount of time in the north…besides I didn't really spend much time outside in the cold, I was staying with a man named Isle…." He immediately stopped his sentence when he realized exactly what it was that he was saying. He didn't want to upset Clare further by telling her that he had spent time with yet another awakened being, especially such a famous one as Isley.

"You were going to say Isley, weren't you?" Clare said boldly, as she continued to stare at the flames in the fireplace.

Realizing that there was no point in denying it, Raki decided to be completely honest with Clare. He didn't like to keep secrets from her, but he only did so because he thought that it was the right thing to do. But now he realized that secrets were going to do nothing but strain their relationship, and he wanted to avoid that at all costs.

"Yes…Isley of the North" he replied in a surprisingly confident tone.

He was waiting for some sort of response from Clare, but felt rather frustrated when she continued to stand there with her back facing him, watching the fire in front of her closely.

"How did you know?" he asked, sounding slightly more nervous than before.

Clare turned her body to face him as she responded:

"A long time ago, Riful told me of Isley, and his woman…" she paused for a moment with a look of ferocity evident on her face: "Since you know his woman, I presumed that you also knew Isley"

"What do you mean knew?"

"Don't you know?" Clare questioned with a curious look on her face.

"Know what?"

"Isley is dead"

The words 'Isley' and 'dead' seemed to echo in Raki's mind for what seemed like hours. Something deep within him knew that Isley was dead, but he always held on to the hope that he could still be alive. He remembered the first time when Isley was attacked by those strange things that never seemed to die, always regenerating themselves no matter what Isley did to them. Somehow, he managed to destroy about half of them, but then the other half would retreat. When they returned the next day, Isley realized that they were only after him, so he asked Raki and Priscilla to get as far away from him as possible so he wouldn't put them in any unnecessary danger.

Even though Isley was an awakened being, to Raki, he was almost like an older brother. He was the one who taught him much of what he knows in swordsmanship, and accepted him, along with Priscilla as family. It was heartbreaking when they had to go their separate ways, especially knowing that they would probably never see each other again.

Seeing the sadness evident on Raki's face, Clare decided to ask the question:

"What was Isley to you?"

Raising his face to meet hers, Raki replied: "He took care of me, and Priscilla"

Clare's face rapidly turned sour when Priscilla's name was mentioned, and turned herself silent for a short moment. She turned her face to meet the fireplace once more:

"Riful told us that P…Priscilla was more powerful than Isley…so why couldn't she take care of herself?" Clare scoffed, clearly sounding irritated about the fact that she even mentioned Priscilla's name.

"Clare…Priscilla was more like a child when I was with her, she could barely take care of herself. Only now do we see the real Priscilla, most of her memories seemed to have returned"

"Whatever" Clare replied coldly, sounding as if she regretted ever asking that question.

Raki was surprised that Clare had even bothered asking him about Priscilla. She made it clear yesterday that she wasn't interested in the slightest about his history with Priscilla, however it seems that she secretly was interested and didn't want to admit it. He suddenly felt brave enough to ask Clare a question he never thought he would:

"Clare, I don't expect you to like Priscilla…but can you at least accept her for what she is?"

When he finished his sentence, Clare turned her gaze away from the fire and back on to him. He could see that she was surprised hearing that from him, as he patiently waited for her answer.

"You…have no idea how much I have wanted to kill her…and now she wants to be friends with me?" Clare grumbled furiously as she stormed towards him, pushing her face forward to within an inch of his as she added: "What do you want from me Raki?" You want me to shake her hand or something?"

Raki was shocked when Clare responded to him in such a manner. He knew that it was a touchy subject for her, but he never imagined for her to be so worked up by his words. He continued to stare into her fuming silver eyes that were firmly locked on to his like a hawk to it's prey.

"I'm sorry if I upset you Clare, I didn't mean to" he mumbled.

The flames of fury that were evident in Clare's eyes suddenly died down as he felt her arms gently wrap around his body, and a slight blush developed on his face as Clare rested her head against his shoulder. It had been so long since he had been so close to Clare, and like with Priscilla, strange feelings had flooded his mind all of a sudden about Clare, feelings that he didn't have when he was a little boy all those years ago. He could smell the pleasant aroma of her hair, and the warmness of her body as the two held each other in such close proximity.

"Raki, I didn't mean to yell at you" she softly mumbled against his shoulder.

"I know you didn't, and I am sorry for all this Clare"

Clare gradually removed herself from their embrace, and placed a single hand on his shoulder.

"None of this is your fault," she said, releasing a warm smile. "I don't blame you for anything. I'm glad that we are together once again."

She removed her hand from his shoulder as she turned around and walked back towards the fireplace. Then, in a surprisingly friendly tone, she spoke:

"Now go do what you wanted to do in the first place"

"What do you mean?" Raki responded sounding baffled.

"You wanted to go check on Priscilla…so go do it"

Raki was pleasantly surprised by the outcome of their conversation. He was expecting it to have ended very differently, with Clare either completely ignoring his words, or storming out of the room from fury.

_Perhaps there is a chance that Clare will accept Priscilla…_

His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden arrival of Teresa and Miria. The two warriors glanced at him for a moment, but then turned their full attention on to Clare.

"Well this is a rare sight Clare," Teresa said in a lighthearted tone: "You woke before me"

"I couldn't sleep" Clare responded as she sat against the nearest chair near her.

"How is the wound on your abdomen?" Miria questioned.

"It's almost fully healed now" Clare responded.

"Such a deep wound healing so rapidly is truly amazing, but that's probably because your half awakened" Teresa revealed, as she eyed Clare closely.

"And what about you Teresa?" Clare asked looking concerned.

"I'm fine"

"You're not as good of a liar as you think you are," Clare answered wisely "I can see that you are in no condition for combat"

"Alright, you got me" Teresa replied in surrender, realizing that there was no point in pretending that she was completely fine.

"So even Clarice could defeat the former number one?" Clare teased playfully.

"Hey that's not funny Clare" Teresa responded, sounding slightly embarrassed as she crossed her arms: "I could beat that color head even with my eyes closed"

"What do you have planned for today Miria?" Clare asked their captain, changing the subject.

After thinking for a moment, Miria responded: "Well we cannot attempt a head on assault against the organization at this moment in time."

"I suppose your right…" Clare added.

"Well, I'm going to check on Priscilla now…" Raki said as he made his way towards the secret door hidden behind the bookshelf.

"Don't even bother," Teresa sneered: "I cannot sense her yoki, she isn't out there"

"What? Where is she?" Raki asked with a face of concern.

"How am I supposed to know? She probably got lost somewhere for all I care"

Ignoring Teresa, Raki moved the bookshelf from its original position against the wall, opened the door behind it, and walked up the staircase that led to the top of the cathedral. When he reached the rooftop, his heart sank when he saw no sign of Priscilla anywhere. He couldn't understand why Priscilla would have ran away, seeing as there was nobody and nothing out there for her. He hoped that she hadn't given in to her awakened side, and left to devour some unfortunate humans. At this moment in time however, he couldn't think of another reason to explain her absence from the rooftop, and it pained him greatly.

Lowering his head in sorrow, Raki reluctantly made his way back down the staircase, dreading the idea of Priscilla returning to the monster she used to be when she almost killed Teresa. As he entered the main room, he could see that the rest of the ghosts have all wakened as they sat amongst the various tables in their usual groups.

"Now that we're all here," Miria announced, grabbing everyone's attention as she stood from her table: "I don't think it's a wise idea to attack the organization head on at this moment in time"

"We all know why your doing this Miria, just be honest with us" Deneve said from the table she sat against with Helen.

"Yeah, it's obvious that you don't know what to do with Priscilla" Helen added as she leant back against her chair, placing both feet on the table in front of her.

"Well that doesn't matter anyway, Priscilla is gone" Teresa said.

"Where did she go?" Cynthia asked with a baffled look on her face.

"Perhaps you should ask Raki" Teresa replied.

Raki felt a little uncomfortable when all eyes shifted towards his direction. He could see that most of them didn't even want to see Priscilla come back as they continued to stare at him, waiting for some sort of answer.

"I have no idea where she has gone…" Raki said quietly as he continued to stand awkwardly by himself near the bookshelf.

"Perhaps it is for the best that she's gone Raki" Miria said in a calm voice, clearly trying to cheer him up.

"She's not gone," Galatea announced from her seat next to Miria. "I don't know what she has been doing, but she is making her way back here as I speak"

Hearing this, Raki immediately raced back up the stairs towards the top of the cathedral. When he finally arrived at the rooftop, he scanned the view around him for any sign of Priscilla and was delighted to see her jumping across various rooftops off to the distance, looking as if she was making her way back to the cathedral.

He watched her as she leapt from building to building, until she eventually landed just a few meters in front of him. To his surprise, it appeared as if Priscilla was holding something in her arms, something she held tightly against her chest. A closer look revealed that she was holding what looked to be a bunch of fruits, vegetables and other plants. He had no idea why she would be carrying such things, but there was only one way to find out.

"Priscilla, why are you carrying those?"

"I was bored so I decided to gather some things for the others to eat" she replied naively.

"Well I suppose most of us are hungry…and we didn't eat yet"

"Do you think Clare is hungry?" Priscilla asked curiously.

"Well…perhaps you should ask her yourself…" Raki answered, sounding quite unsure of what he had just said. "Come back down with me Priscilla, I'm sure the others will appreciate the food"

She gave him a nod as the two made their way back down the staircase to join the others in the main room. As Raki expected, there wasn't much of a welcoming for Priscilla. She was greeted with eyes of displeasure and even with eyes of hatred, especially from Clare.

"I hope you guys are hungry, I picked these out for all of you. I tried to eat some myself, but they don't taste good to me at all" Priscilla announced as she stood in front of the others.

"Well of course they don't taste good," Riful replied, sitting against a table with Dauf in the far corner of the room: "We need to eat human guts, that's what really tastes good"

"I refuse to eat humans anymore, I'm not going to kill innocent people!" Priscilla countered childishly.

Changing the subject, Raki walked in front of Priscilla and scanned the various goods she held in her hands.

"Priscilla…some of these aren't even edible" he said as he pulled a strange looking plant from her grasp: "And I don't even know what this is"

"I'm sorry, I don't really know what's good to eat or not" she replied immaturely.

"I guess I'll have one of those shiny red apples she's holding" Helen said to the surprise of everyone.

Raki pulled an apple out of Priscilla's arms and threw it to Helen, who caught it effortlessly with her right hand.

"That's quite a nice looking apple you got there" Helen said as she scanned the shiny red surface: "One of the juiciest looking ones I've seen"

"I still don't understand your fascination with apples Helen" Deneve noted from her seat next to Helen.

"You just don't appreciate anything do you?"

Without any warning, Priscilla made her way towards the rest of the ghosts, offering them the various fruits and vegetables she held in her arms. Raki was delighted to see most of the ghosts pick something out from the bunch, but then held his breath as Priscilla made her way towards Clare and Teresa's table.

"I know that you hate me," Priscilla said as she stopped In front of Clare: "but you wouldn't happen to be hungry would you?"

Expecting the worst, Raki marched towards Priscilla, hoping to get to her before Clare lost her mind, or worst.

"No" Clare replied.

The others, and especially Raki were astonished when Clare gave Priscilla an answer that was surprisingly non hostile. A simple 'No' might not sound extraordinary to most people, but in Clare's case, it is the best answer Priscilla can expect.

"Perhaps later then," Priscilla answered as she turned her face to Teresa and offered her one of the fruits she held.

"So first you kill me, then you almost kill me again, and now your offering me some fruit?" Teresa said as she released a heavy sigh, leaning further back in her chair with both her hand behind her head.

"I'm sorry" Priscilla responded.

"No I don't want any fruit" Teresa added.

"I suppose we should thank you Priscilla," Miria announced from the middle of the room: "I am sick of eating nothing but bread every morning anyway,"

With that, Miria once again stood up from the table where she stood, grabbing the ghosts' attention. She cleared her throat as she spoke:

"We have gathered enough strength to potentially overthrow the organization. I say 'potentially' because I will not make the mistake of underestimating my opponent. The organization has taken something precious from all of us, and I think it's about time we paid them back for it. I believe that we are holding all the cards, and we should attack them whenever it suits us. We have barely recovered from the events that transpired yesterday," she said as she glanced at Teresa: "So it's best if we take it slow and rest for a while before we even attempt a front on assault against the enemy."

Miria then turned her attention on to Priscilla as she asked:

"Priscilla, we are heading to a place in the south where we can rest easy, and train amongst ourselves, if you want to come with us then you have my approval. I only ask that if you decide to come with us, then you try and suppress your yoki as much as possible to avoid being detected by the organization"

"I will do my best, I promise I wont get in your way" She replied.

"Miria…why even bother…let them send who ever they want, nobody can defeat Priscilla." Teresa scoffed.

"We don't know that for sure," Miria answered: "It is unwise to unnecessarily expose ourselves to the organization, it would only lower our chances of success of defeating them"

"Indeed, Miria is right" Galatea added.

"Are you coming with us Galatea?" Miria asked.

"Actually yes I will be, I am quite curious about Priscilla"

The captain then turned her attention on to Clarice and Miata as she spoke: "Miata, Clarice, the choice is yours, you don't have to go with us if you don't want to"

"I want to play more with Riful!" the little girl screeched as she ran immaturely towards a surprised Riful.

"Well…I guess I'll come as well then…" Clarice said in a nervous tone, sounding quite unsure of herself.

"If we are to defeat the organization, then it is vital that we learn to work together," Miria said as she spared a glance at Clare and then Priscilla: "Or at least…try to work together"


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Thanks for all the reviews so far, I really appreciate it.

Srobertson: Thanks for that review man, lol really made my day. As for which anime I believe would be the best for a crossover with Claymore…im not to sure because I don't actually watch that much anime or read too much manga. I only read Naruto and Claymore. I have seen other anime like Hellsing Ultimate and Evangelion (my favourite anime-absolute masterpiece), and some Full Metal Alchemist. If I had to chose one, I believe Alucard from Hellsing would fit in perfectly into the claymore universe, or vice versa, mainly because both anime/manga have the same dark theme to them.

LordAnothony: Hmmm, you have made some good points regarding Teresa's true strength, although I still disagree with you =P, let me tell you why:

I believe that Teresa does know her true strength, because she told Priscilla that all warriors eventually learn their limits, which implies that Teresa herself must have gone around 70-80% sometime.

Also, when Teresa told Priscilla, Irene, Noel and Sophia to come at her as many times as they like, I believe she was just making big talk. She knew that Priscilla could/would eventually surpass her, but not for a long time. Even if Priscilla and others attacked her time and time again, she would always win. She knew that she would probably have to kill Pricilla in the near future, but I believe that she was hoping that she wouldn't have to.

I am aware that the organization had no clue about Teresa's true power, so when they said that Priscilla would eventually surpass her might have been incorrect. However, because Teresa herself thought that Priscilla could have the potential to surpass her, it must be true. Also, wouldn't the organization be suspicious about Teresa? I mean, she is the strongest and doesn't even release her yoki….so why didn't they ask her to release it so they could properly measure their number one ranking claymore? That's what I would do. I just find it weird that when Teresa was a recruit, she never used her yoki powers while her other comrades probably did, and nobody in the organization thought this was strange? Anyways, I like a good argument, lol.

Bebe: I know that claymores are naturally immune to the cold, but I think that even claymores are affected by blizzards. It pieta, the claymores slept indoors, and not outdoors, which means that they were probably slightly cold outside (claymores always prefer to sleep outside usually). Also, in my fic, Clare said that the fire kept them warm through the worst of blizzards, not just normal blizzards. I think that even claymores can freeze to death from the coldest of blizzards.

Twisted Eteran Wolvetta: Lol, keep going with the reviews.

Ananyways, on with the story:

* * *

Before the ghosts left the safety of their base of operations, Miria made it clear that those with silver eyes must wear a hooded cape to prevent the civilians of Rabona from noticing their half yoma nature. Of course, this meant that Raki, Priscilla, Riful, Dauf, and Galatea were the only ones who didn't have to do so, as they looked no different to ordinary humans, and it was obvious that Galatea had nothing to hide as her eyes were already permanently damaged to the point of them being unrecognizable.

After making their way through the crowded streets of Rabona, they reached the secret southern side entrance that no one except them, and a few of their most trusted associates in Rabona knew about. As soon as they stepped outside the walls of the great city, the ghosts that wore hoods over their heads immediately removed them, allowing the warmness of the morning sun to greet their faces.

"So where are we going again?" Raki asked.

"A place we call the training grounds," Miria replied, standing confidently in front of her group. "But I like to think of it more of a place where we can relax"

"How far away is this place?" asked Priscilla.

"It's about a three hour walk"

"If you're so concerned about how far away it is," Teresa sneered in a mocking tone: "Then why don't you just fly there?"

"You want me to fly there?" Priscilla replied naively, not realizing Teresa's obvious ridicule of her.

Teresa gave Priscilla as odd silent stare for a short moment, then, after a few seconds she added: "You truly are clueless aren't you?"

"Don't confuse her like that Teresa…" Raki pled.

"Yeah whatever" Teresa replied irritably, crossing her arms in defiance.

"That's enough…" Miria said as she let out a heavy sigh: "This is the last thing we need…"

"Are we just going to stand here all day?" Clare announced as she walked towards their captain. "I think we have better things to do"

"Clare's right…lets go" Miria ordered, turning her back to the others and began waling towards their destination towards the south.

The rest of the ghosts immediately began to follow their captain, all except Teresa, Raki and Priscilla, who continued to stand in the same position, eyeing each other oddly.

"Raki…why are you doing this?" Teresa asked in a serious manner.

"Doing what?"

"How could you be so accepting of Priscilla knowing what she did to me and Clare?"

"Well…I…" He stammered, unable to find any words to contract a sentence.

"Did you even consider what I…or what Clare would think?" Teresa sneered as she glanced at Priscilla, who seemed quite uncomfortable being in the middle of their conversation.

"B...but Priscilla didn't mean it…it's not her fault."

Without any warning, Teresa marched threateningly towards Raki while keeping her eyes firmly locked on to him.

"I don't hate her for killing me…or the fact that she almost killed me again…it's the way she makes Clare feel that bothers me."

"Teresa, are you coming?" Clare asked as she broke away from Miria's group and approached the three silently from behind.

"Me and Raki just had a little talk, but it's over now" Teresa responded as she gave Priscilla an odd stare and then turned to face Clare. "It's as you said Clare, we have better things to do."

* * *

Two hours have passed until the training ground finally came into view for the ghosts off to the distance. From this far away, all that could be seen were the two large hills and the thick jungle of trees and bushes in between them. Any passing warrior would be oblivious to the massive area hidden behind the thick wall of trees and bushes in between the two hills, and this was the reason they chose this place as their secret training facility.

Finally arriving at the thick wall of trees and bushes, they used their hands to move the branches and leaves out of their way and they entered the interior of their hideout.

"I would never have thought that a place like this was hidden in between these two hills." Riful said as she gazed in awe at the enormous empty field in front of her.

"This is precisely why we come here" Miria responded.

"Wow, this place seems too perfect…" Raki said while staring at the single lonely tree and small lake off to the distance in the middle of the large empty area.

"That's exactly what I said when first saw this place" Helen grinned as she poked Raki.

"You may all do as you wish, just make sure to stay within these walls and do not release your yoki" Miria announced as she stood confidently in front of her party.

"Clare, what do you want to do?" Teresa asked.

"I'll just rest by that lake for now" She responded.

"Sounds good to me," Teresa answered as she exhaled softly. "I'll accompany you."

"You guys can rest all you like, but I feel like kicking some butt!" Helen boasted proudly.

"Don't you mean getting your butt kicked?" Deneve teased.

"Do you want to try me!"

"If it means that you'll shut up, then yes"

"Alright you asked for it," Helen grumbled as she pulled her claymore out from its back holster. "You want to dance? Then lets dance."

"Alright I'll dance with you," Deneve replied with a smirk on her face as she reached for her claymore located on her back. "Just try to keep up with me."

Miria let out a sigh as the two warriors began their reckless duel without a moment of proper thought going through their minds. However, she was relieved when they decided to move their fight a safe distance away from the others, towards the other end of the training ground.

Clare turned her attention on to Raki, who stood next to Priscilla a small distance in front of her. She glanced at Priscilla for a short moment, but returned her gaze on to Raki shortly after.

"What are you going to do Raki?" she asked.

"Well, I really want to get used to this new body of mine"

"Oh so you want a training partner?"

"Sort of" he replied as he placed one hand on the back of his head.

"I'll be your partner Raki," Audrey said as she walked up to him with a smile on her lips. "Clare already said that she wanted to relax."

"Alright then," Clare said while giving Audrey a suspicious look. "I'll be at the lake in the middle if you need me Raki."

"I'll do that, thanks Clare."

As Clare was about to leave, Teresa suddenly looked over at Priscilla as she asked:

"So… What is she going to do?"

"Oh, I don't know," Raki replied as he turned his attention on to Priscilla. "What are you going to do Priscilla?"

Priscilla stood there, as silent as a statue with her eyes firmly locked on to Audrey, almost as if she didn't hear a word he had said. After a few awkward seconds, she seemed to have snapped out of her trance, and returned her gaze on to Raki.

"I'm going to make sure she doesn't hurt you."

Priscilla's over protectiveness for Raki was surprising for everyone, but none so much as for Clare. Hearing such unexpected words from Priscilla filled her mind with bizarre thoughts and emotions that clashed with her age-old hatred for her. Her puzzled mind struggled to comprehend the idea of her most hated enemy being so defensive of Raki, a trait that she herself had. She remembered the way she felt when Priscilla planted that kiss to the side of his face, the surprise, the disgust and even…a deep sense of jealousy. Priscilla had already taken Teresa away from her once before, and now she felt as if she was threatening to take yet another away from her, by replacing her at Raki's side.

"Priscilla, that isn't necessary," Raki assured as he glanced at Audrey and then at Priscilla. "Audrey and I escaped the organization together, I trust her."

Priscilla continued her suspicious stare at Audrey for a short moment, but eventually released a weak smile as she softly spoke:

"If you helped Raki then I trust you as well"

"Thanks…I guess" Audrey replied unconfidently.

"Let's go Clare, we can watch them spar from the lake" Teresa said as she tapped Clare lightly on the shoulder.

"I suppose…" she replied, removing her furious stare of Priscilla.

* * *

A short while later, Teresa and Clare could be seen in the middle of the training grounds, resting against the meeting tree that grew next to the small lake, keeping an eye on Raki's and Audrey's sparring match. The rest of the ghosts split into their usual groups in random areas in the training ground doing training of their own. Riful was doing her best to avoid Miata, but no matter how hard she tried, the little girl always seemed to find her. Realizing that escape was impossible, Riful forced a reluctant Dauf to play with Miata instead, which was quite amusing for everyone to watch, with even Clare herself releasing a soft smile seeing the large Dauf attempting to play games with a hyperactive Miata.

"You know, I actually feel sorry for that oaf," Teresa said from next to Clare as they sat against the meeting tree.

"I never imagined you would feel sorry for an awakened being." Clare replied.

"Sometimes I even surprise myself," Teresa said in a light hearted tone, then changing the subject as she added: "Raki is getting better, it appears he his beginning to understand his new body."

"It's still so strange for me," Clare said as she stared at Raki off to the distance: "He was just a little boy when I last saw him, and now, he is all grown up."

Teresa released a short chuckle as she turned to face Clare with a gentle smile on her lips. She ran her fingers through Clare's soft hair, using them as a comb as she spoke: "You're not the only one who feels the same way."

"What do you mean?" Clare replied with a slight blush.

"It was over ten years ago when we first met, but it feels like only a few days ago for me. I remember it like yesterday when you followed me though that forest, you were very persistent."

Clare shyly turned her face off to the side as she replied: "Those were the best memories of my life."

"Do you remember when you jumped off that cliff? What was going through your little mind back then?"

"I don't remember…it was a long time ago" Clare answered warily.

Teresa released another chuckle as she continued: "I can still picture that look on your face when you woke up in the morning and thought that I abandoned you, even though I told you the night before that I wouldn't."

Not hearing a response from Clare, Teresa added: "But I suppose none of that matters anymore Clare, we're together again and that's all that importan…."

Her words were cut short when she suddenly felt an unwelcoming yoki aura appear in front of them. She didn't even have to raise her face to see the intruder, as it was obvious from the yoki signature that it was Priscilla.

"What do you want?" Teresa grunted out of annoyance.

"Forgive me, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation," She said as she began walking closer towards the two: "I happen to have superior hearing so I couldn't help it."

"How dare you show up in front of us like this?"

"I only wanted to ask you one question Teresa," She said as she stared deeply into Teresa's eyes: "When we first fought all those years ago, why did you not slice off my head when you had the chance? I was your enemy, yet you let me live."

A short moment of silence enveloped as Priscilla patiently waited for Teresa's response. After a few awkward seconds, Teresa finally opened her mouth to speak the words:

"I suppose it's because you were too pathetic to kill"

"Priscilla's face suddenly turned gloomy as she replied: "I do realize how brainwashed I was back then…"

"Look…" Teresa said irritably as she lowered her head towards the ground, while still sitting comfortably against the tree next to Clare: "I don't blame you for killing me, my death was completely my own fault. I only regret that I didn't kill you when I had the chance."

After taking a short moment to Process Teresa's words, Priscilla then turned her attention on to Clare as she spoke: "During the seven years that me and Raki were together…he spoke only of someone named Clare."

Clare's curiosity forced herself to look into Priscilla's eyes as the awakened being continued: " At the time I didn't have a clue who this 'Clare' was, and I don't think he even knew that I could understand him, yet he still continued to talk about you. He told me the story of how you met, all the adventures you had with him, and even how you were separated."

Priscilla then took a slight pause as she walked closer towards Clare: "It is clear that you are very important to Raki."

"Just get…away…" Clare grumbled.

"Alright…" she responded sorrowfully as she turned her back to the two and began to walk away: "I truly am sorry for what I have done to you."

* * *

"I wonder what Priscilla said to Teresa and Clare" Raki said in a nervous voice as him and Audrey watched Priscilla walk away from the two at the meeting tree off to the distance.

"I can only imagine how Clare must feel…"

"What do you mean?" Raki questioned.

Audrey turned to face him with a surprised look on her face as she spoke: "How can you not see it?"

"See what?"

Audrey let out a slight giggle as she looked into his confused face: "You're so cute when you don't know what's going on, but that's probably because you're a male."

A slight blush developed on Raki's face as he anxiously asked: "What do you mean?"

"Clare is worried that you feel closer to Priscilla than to her, she might even be jealous of that kiss Priscilla gave you last night."

"Clare is jealous?" he naively asked.

"I can't say for sure, but something is telling me that she is," Audrey replied.

She then gave him a serious look as she boldly asked: "Wait…don't tell me that you fell in love with Priscilla as well?"

"What! Ummm err no" He replied unconvincingly.

"So she's just a friend?"

"Well, I was with her for seven years, we know each other quite well…although back then she wasn't quite herself."

"But you still love Clare?" Audrey asked openly.

"Well erm…you know…I…"

"Well this is an awkward situation," Audrey said as she placed a hand on her forehead and arched her back as she released a sigh.

"I don't want to abandon Priscilla…and I don't want Clare to hate me"

"So what are you going to do?"

"Well I cant just ask Priscilla to go away, I cant do that to her" he replied.

"I'm afraid that you're just going to have to let this situation unfold by itself and hope for the best."

"I guess you're right…there's nothing I can do…."

"Raki…" Audrey said in a slightly nervous manner as she walked closer towards him with a look of uncertainty on her face: "D…do you like…me?"

Audrey held her breath, and anxiously waited for his response, as she stood timidly next to him with a few traces of nervous sweat apparent on her forehead. She cursed herself for being too direct with her question, and hoped that she didn't make him feel too uncomfortable.

"Of course I like you Audrey" he naively replied as he tapped her on the shoulder.

_He didn't understand what I meant…how cute…._

Slightly disappointed with his response, Audrey released a forced smile as she raised her claymore into a defensive position in front of herself.

"Just so you know Raki, I like you to," she said, this time releasing a real smile: "You still haven't passed through my defense, is that all you got?"

Raki let out a proud smirk as he threw his blade over his right shoulder, holding the hilt tightly with his right hand.

"I'm only getting started, I just don't want to hurt you."

"That's sweet of you, but don't forget that I am a warrior, a former number three in the organization, I can handle myself."

* * *

"What happened back then Teresa?" Clare asked as the two sat under the meeting tree next to the lake.

"What do you mean?"

"Even though I was a little girl back then, it was still obvious to me that you were superior to Priscilla, so why did you let her kill you?" Clare questioned in a depressing tone, slowly turning her face to meet Teresa's.

"Clare…it's more complicated than that," Teresa replied with a heavy sigh, leaning further back against the tree trunk: "I should have killed her when I had the chance, but I was careless, I let my defenses down…"

Teresa then let out a faint smile as she brought her mind back to the battle she had with Priscilla over ten years ago. Because she had recently been brought back to life by the organization, that memory felt fresh in her mind, as if the battle had happened only a few days ago.

"I was foolish…Priscilla was a powerful warrior, one that could have surpassed me in the near future. I don't know what went through my mind when I decided to spare her."

"D…did it hurt? Clare mumbled in a miserable tone.

"No, there was no pain at all," Teresa answered in a similar miserable tone, lowering her head and closing her eyes as she brought her mind back to the moment Priscilla's blade was racing towards her neck at blinding speed: "Everything was too sudden, there was no time to think…"

There was no response from Clare as she continued to sit next to Teresa in complete silence. It was obvious to Teresa that talking about their past was depressing for Clare, so she decided to change the subject for her, and especially for Clare's sake.

"But enough of the past Clare…"

"I will never forgive her…" Clare grumbled furiously, interrupting Teresa's sentence: "Never…"

"Clare…" Teresa sighed: "I knew the consequences for my actions, I was aware of what would happen to me when I killed those bandits, Priscilla was only doing what the organization asked her to."

Not hearing a response from Clare yet again, Teresa added: "You can be angry at Priscilla all you like, and I don't blame you, but in all honesty…it is I who you should be angry at."

Hearing this made Clare raise her lowered face towards Teresa, looking deeply into her eyes. She wasn't exactly sure what Teresa meant by those words, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to find out either.

"I failed you Clare…" Teresa said shakily in a disheartened tone, sounding as if she was going to surrender to her emotions at any second: "I failed you back then when I left you alone in the world, and I failed you again yesterday…"

"Don't ever think that," Clare replied as she snuggled closer towards Teresa, gently resting her head against her shoulder as the two of them sat peacefully against the tree trunk: "You have never failed me Teresa…I have always looked up to you, always wanting to be strong like you…"

A warm smile developed on Teresa's lips as she turned to face her little girl that rested soundly against her shoulder. She gently stroked Clare's cheek with the tips of her fingers, and planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Thank you Clare, that means a lot to me" Teresa said tenderly, pulling her face away from Clare's forehead, with that warm smile on her lips transforming into a proud one instead as the two looked passionately into each other's eyes.

"Teresa…I'm not a little girl anymore…" Clare said shyly, slightly blushing from embarrassment.

"You will always be my little girl…Clare."

* * *

I hope you guys are enjoying my fanfic, reviews/comments are appreciated!

Stay tuned!


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32:

Well here it is, better late than never I suppose.

Didn't have much time to write lately, but I still do my best.

I thank everyone who reads and reviews my stories.

I'm glad that most people are enjoying it.

On with the story.

* * *

The sound of steel clashing with steel engulfed the large, empty grassy fields of the training grounds, as Raki's and Audrey's sparring match elevated to a whole new level. Raki hysterically threw his blade towards Audrey with amazing speed, however the former number three managed to stop every one of his devastating attacks with her incredible defense. As the battle intensified further, the two began emitting greater and greater levels of yoki, drawing the attention of Miria, and most of the other ghosts.

"Still not fast enough!" Audrey yelled as she continued to use her gentle sword technique to parry Raki's devastating blows against her.

"I'm only getting started!" he yelled back, adding greater levels of speed to his weapon swings.

Audrey didn't want to show it, but she was already using her gentle sword technique at its full capacity, something that few opponents in the past have forced her to do. Audrey's seemingly perfect defense was in danger of failing to the whirlwind of steel Raki directed toward her. Strangely enough, she was excited by the challenge Raki threw at her, as it was a very long time since her gentle sword technique had struggled against the blows of another warrior.

As the battle persisted, it came to a point where Audrey was forced to retreat from Raki's attacks, or risk being completely overwhelmed by his unforgiving offensive. She found herself being constantly on her feet, leaping backwards as far, and as fast as she could in order to assist her ever-failing gentle sword technique. Some of his blows had the force to completely obliterate large boulders and were unblock-able by her gentle sword, forcing her to throw her body out of the way of his heavy claymore that made contact with the ground with earth shattering impact. She knew that if one of those slower, yet far more devastating attacks ht her, it was all over.

Throughout their sparing match, Audrey couldn't help but notice Raki's ever-transforming face. When their match first began, Raki seemed rather calm and under control, but now it seemed as if he is completely lost in the thrill of battle. There was only one other time Audrey remembered seeing Raki in such a state, and that was when he protected her from those bandits in the forest.

Audrey knew that her defense would eventually falter, and her assumptions were correct when Raki's cold blade eventually made contact with the soft skin on the side of her arm. The steel easily tore through her fragile skin, releasing a steady flow of blood that ran down her arm.

Seeing this, Raki immediately lowered his weapon towards the ground, and approached her with a concerned look on his face.

"I'm so sorry Audrey I didn't mean," he said, sounding as guilty as ever. He gently placed his hand on her arm, and inspected the damage he had inflicted upon her.

"Raki…you don't have to," Audrey replied looking slightly embarrassed about being touched by him: "Wounds are nothing new for me, and besides, this is barely a wound…it's a small scrape."

"It may only be a scrape, but it still needs to be attended too"

"Raki…it's ok….really" she replied shyly.

"Sit down Audrey" he said, as he began to kneel against the ground, gently tugging on her arm to direct her to sit down.

Audrey was surprised by how quickly her body reacted to his words. Without any form of hesitation, she immediately sat down against the soft grass, and allowed him to do whatever it was he planned to do to her. She would have never allowed anybody to touch her in such a manner before, but there was something about Raki that made her trust him entirely, and she wasn't sure exactly what that was. It would be considered an insult to a warrior like her being treated for such a petty wound, but she found it impossible to go against his words.

As she sat against the ground with Raki kneeling before her, Audrey watched as he ripped off his right sleeve, and placed the torn fabric in his arms.

"Both humans and half-yoma warriors can feel pain," Raki spoke in a surprisingly wise voice as he gently wrapped the fabric around Audrey's wound, using it as a bandage to stop the bleeding: "Both have the same thing flowing through their veins."

Audrey didn't know how to react to Raki's kindness towards her. All her life she had been a hardened warrior, one whom never even dreamt about being helped by another in the form of kindness. She had been taught from a very young age that warriors like herself didn't deserve to be treated like a human, that their lives didn't matter, and she believed that for so long. She always thought that being helped by another was a form of weakness, and something one like her should avoid, but ever since she met Raki, her world and philosophy had been completely tipped upside down. Her warrior nature told her that this was wrong, but there was something else within her that told her otherwise, something that she never even knew existed.

It felt strange to Audrey appearing so vulnerable and weak, however at the same time, it was of great relief to finally unlock the iron vault within her that housed her emotions, letting them flood her mind and body like they did before when she was still a human child.

For far too long she had been the only one to look after herself, and it was a great feeling to finally be looked after by another. She suddenly wanted to surrender herself to Raki, to fall into his arms and let him hold her tightly, protecting her from all that wanted to harm her. She felt stupid for thinking such things, but she didn't care, she felt human again, a feeling she had been craving for so long, only now realizing just how much.

"There, this should stop the bleeding," he said kindly as he got to his feet, with a smile on his lips as he looked down on her.

"You know this is unnecessary…" Audrey replied shyly.

"Well we have to look after each other."

"Raki…"

"What is it?" he asked with a concerned look on his face, as if he thought he had done something wrong.

"Thank you…"

"Hey no problem." he replied.

* * *

"It seems that Raki has wounded Audrey" Clare said to Teresa from under the meeting tree as the two watched Raki and Audrey off to the distance.

"I would barely call that a wound…" Teresa replied.

"What do you mean?"

"It is a mere cut and nothing more." Teresa added.

Clare remained silent for a moment as she kept her eyes locked on to Raki and Audrey with a look of confusion on her face. She didn't know why, but Audrey's obsessive closeness to Raki was annoying her, almost to the point of jealousy. Of course she tried her best to dismiss her thoughts, but this was one emotion she found difficult to let go.

"Are you just going to lye here all day?" a familiar voice announced from behind the two.

"I was wondering when you were going to tell me that" Clare replied to her captain.

Miria approached the tree from behind and stopped to a halt next to Teresa and Clare. She turned her face to meet Clare with a slight mischievous smile on her lips as she added: "You'll never suprass me if you laze around like this."

"Is that a challenge Miria?" Clare responded in a similar mischievous tone.

"I suppose it is."

"Just try not to hurt Clare…" Teresa said playfully with a slender smile on her lips.

"Hey Teresa I'm not a child!" Clare retorted childishly.

"I wouldn't dare do anything to get on your bad side Teresa" Miria wisely responded.

"I'll show you both that there's nothing to worry about," Clare said annoyingly as she got to her feet and pulled out her claymore from it's back holster while keeping her eyes firmly locked on her captain. "Because you're going down Miria."

"Play nicely now." Teresa announced from under the meeting tree behind the two warriors.

"Teresa…" Clare grumbled in annoyance once again.

"I'm just teasing you Clare"

The captain was surprised when Clare threw a playful punch on her right shoulder making it clear that she was no longer in the mood for games. Even though it was a playful punch, it was still a punch of hybrid, and it was pretty powerful, even for Miria.

"What was that for?" she asked in confusion, rubbing the area where Clare had punched her

"That's for being on Teresa's side."

Teresa released a sigh of relief as the two made their way to an empty part of the training grounds to begin their sparring match. No matter how hard she tried, she still couldn't get over the fact that this person that was sitting by her this entire time was the little girl she saved all those years ago. She was quite proud of Clare, and surprised by how powerful she, and her friends were. She figured that these 'ghosts' were on a completely different level to the warriors of her time. She had often thought about what it would be like if Clare had been a warrior during her time as number one in the organization.

_Clare would have easily been in the top 5…_

_No…probably number two._

_Her quicksword is actually superior to Irene's…. while not as powerful, it is far more accurate and lethal. _

_Yes._

_She is definitely better than Irene._

_Of course, she is not as wise as Irene._

_she is still naïve._

_Warriors in this time…are so powerful._

Teresa's thoughts were interrupted when she sensed a figure approaching the tree she sat against from behind. She immediately recognized the figure as Galatea even before the blind warrior stopped to a halt next to her and leant against the tree with her arms crossed.

"How are you feeling Teresa" Galatea asked in her usual calm, formal voice.

"Do I even have to tell you?" Teresa responded, knowing that Galatea could just read the flow of yoki within her own body to diagnose her condition.

"No, you actually don't, I just thought I'd ask."

"You know, I never asked what happened to your eyes, those look like self inflicted wounds, and not ones from battle."

"It's a long story…" Galatea responded.

"Everything always is…"

"I just came to check up on you" Galatea announced after a short moment of silence.

"I'm fine." Teresa answered with her head tilted towards the ground, avoiding eye contact.

"It must be difficult for you knowing that you are no longer the most powerful among us"

Hearing this, Teresa immediately turned her attention on to the blind warrior with a look of surprise on her face. She would have never imagined that anyone would have dared to mention this to her, but it seems that Galatea was one whom she was yet to figure out entirely. She continued to stare awkwardly at her for a short moment, then lowered her head back towards the ground in annoyance.

"I know that you are afraid of her," Galatea added wisely as she leant against the tree next to Teresa with her arms crossed: "It's only natural for the weak to fear the strong."

"Are you calling me weak?" Teresa sneered with a trace of anger evident in her voice. She didn't like conversation, and the way it was heading in the slightest.

"Well…you are weaker than Priscilla."

"Is that all you have to say? Because if it is then this conversation is over."

Galatea released a weak smile as she proceeded to sit against the tree next to Teresa, finding a comfortable position against the tree trunk and leaning further back against it. "You and Clare share the same stubbornness… or rather…Clare inherited your stubbornness."

"Were it not for you being blind, I would have hurt you by now."

"Did Clare ever tell you of the time when I saved her life from Dauf?" Galatea said.

"That oaf?" Teresa grumbled as she set her gaze on to Dauf who stood with Miata and Riful on the eastern edge of the training grounds.

"Perhaps I shouldn't have told you that" Galatea sighed.

"Are you trying to aggravate me?"

"Of course not, I am merely establishing my past with Clare."

"Come to think of it," Teresa said, sinking further down towards the ground as she leant against the tree trunk, finding a more comfortable position: "You never actually told me how you two met."

Galatea let out another smile as she set her mind back to the moment she met Clare in Riful's hideout.

"It was around seven years ago. I was assigned by the organization to locate number forty-seven and return her for questioning, or more likely…execution. I tracked her to some old castle ruins where she foolishly entered, without realizing that Riful of the West was residing deep within the walls."

"What was she doing there?" Teresa asked, looking extremely intrigued and disturbed at the same time.

"If you want an answer to that question, you'll have to ask her yourself." Galatea replied as she lowered her face towards the ground, gently smiling to herself as she added: "Clare really knows how to get herself in trouble… we had the fight of our lives against Dauf that day, and luckily, Riful decided to spare us."

"So that explains your renegade status… you decided not to return Clare to the organization."

"That is correct, although I intended to complete my original mission were it not for the warrior Clare saved within the castle that defended her from me."

Teresa turned her gaze towards the open sky as she released a heavy sigh: "Being half awakened, hunted down by the organization and meeting abyssal ones…Clare sounded like a troublemaker. It's a miracle she didn't get herself killed."

"That's what I keep telling myself to this day."

"I suppose you want me to thank you for saving Clare's life…"

"I don't expect that at all. I would have brought her back to the organization if I had the chance" Galatea replied boldly.

"It sounds to me that you were one of the organizations' favorite pets."

"I was their third favorite pet…don't forget that you were their first during your time."

"I suppose that is true, I cannot deny that" Teresa answered with yet another sigh.

At that moment, Teresa's and Galatea's attention turned to Miria and Clare as they fought each other on the western side of the training grounds. The two warriors were so focused on their battle; they didn't even realize that they were rapidly speeding towards the meeting tree Teresa and Galatea rested against.

"This battle they are having is more intense that their usual ones…" Galatea remarked as the two edged closer and closer towards them.

Before they knew it, the two warriors were but mere meters in front of them, with Miria being on the offensive against Clare who constantly had to pace herself backwards in order to remain in the battle. Miria used her blinding speed in an attempt to overwhelm Clare, but Clare's wincutter, and quick perception proved to be sufficient to deflect the ghostly warriors blows against her.

"Clare…" Teresa said concernedly as she leant forward from the tree she sat against, keeping her eyes focused on the two warriors just in front of her.

"You have nothing to fear Teresa," Galatea assured through the deafening sound of Clare's and Miria's claymore's clashing mere meters in front of them: "Clare is grown up now, trust me when I tell you she can take care of herself."

"I know…" Teresa replied unconvincingly.

"They have done this many times over…they have proven to be quite even."

"I can see that, it just feels so strange to me seeing Clare fighting while I sit here doing nothing…I was always the one who defended her in the past."

"The past is the past Teresa, let it go"

"I suppose you're right…"

As Teresa finished her sentence, Miria managed to daze Clare with an elbow to the side of her head, lowing her guard for long enough to kick her in the gut as she sped towards the ground. Noticing this, Teresa immediately got to her feet and rocketed towards her in an attempt to catch her in her arms.

She was horrified seeing Priscilla speeding towards Clare as well, at a speed that was superior to her own. She knew that Priscilla would reach Clare before she would, but as much as she hated to admit it, there was nothing she could do about it. The fact that she was injured didn't help either, and she could only watch as Priscilla broke Clare's fall, catching her gently in her arms.

When Teresa arrived a second later, she could see the overwhelming look of shock on Clare's face as she noticed that it was Priscilla who held her. Teresa herself despised the idea of Priscilla holding Clare so intimately, and she could only imagine how Clare must have felt. Clare's shock eventually turned into disgust as her mind finally comprehended what had just happened, and immediately threw herself out of Priscilla's arms. As was expected, Clare wasted no time in turning her back to Priscilla with her arms folded in fury, as if any help from Priscilla was an insult to her dignity.

"I saw you falling, so I thought I'd catch you." Priscilla said boldly, breaking the awkward silence.

"I'm sure you noticed that I was going to catch her." Teresa said in a cold tone.

"Of course I did, but there was a chance that you weren't going to get here fast enough."

"There was plenty of time and you knew it!"

"Shut up…" Clare announced in a vulgar tone, so soft that it sounded more like a whisper.

Hearing this, Priscilla and Teresa then turned their attention on to Clare as she continued:

"I don't require the assistance of any of you,"

Clare then turned her sour face towards Priscilla, with that all to common look of hatred in her eyes. It was obvious to everyone that Priscilla had gone too far by physically touching her, and they were all going to face Clare's fury as a result.

"Especially from you…" Clare hissed in a furious voice as she turned her attention on to Priscilla.

"Just get out of here" Teresa sneered.

"I'm glad you're alright" Priscilla replied as she vanished into the wind.

With Priscilla now gone, Teresa walked up to Clare, not knowing what to expect from her.

"Don't let your guard down Clare…not even for a moment" Teresa muttered at a surprised looking Clare. It was obvious that she wasn't expecting to be caught by anyone at all.

"It was unnecessary for you to try and catch me…that wouldn't have hurt me much, I've been through worst in the past."

"So I've heard…" Teresa answered.

"I wish I had somebody to catch me when you did that to me," Miria said to Clare as she walked up to the two.

Teresa lifted her head to face Miria, and noticed many fine cuts all over her body. The cuts on her body weren't very deep, but they were numerous enough to cause some damage. As fast as Miria was, it seemed that not even she could escape the lighting fast strikes of the windcutter.

"So are you ready for more?" Clare said, holding her claymore in a defensive position, expecting Miria to charge at her at any moment.

"I think we should take a break…" Miria replied as she sheathed her claymore, releasing a sigh of relief.

"So it's one thousand eight hundred and seventy four to one thousand eight hundred and seventy three my way?"

"That is correct Clare," Miria replied, turning to her side and set her gaze on the meeting tree where Galatea sat against: "Do as you will Clare, but it is time for me to rest."

The two watched as Miria walked towards the meeting tree, and sat down next to Galatea letting out a sign of relief. It was obvious that she was completely worn out, with little cuts from Clare's blade covering most of her legs, arms and suit.

"That was supposed to be a friendly match?" Teresa asked with a look of curiosity and intensity apparent on her face.

"You should have seen some of our other battles…we almost killed each other a few times." Clare replied as she sheathed her claymore.

"What?"

"There was one time when I let my guard down for a moment, and Miria accidently struck her blade cleanly through my right shoulder…I was unconscious for a week,"

Teresa was stunned by what she had heard, and couldn't find the right words for a reply of any sort. She continued to stand there in silence as she waited for Clare to continue.

"And I don't think you want to know what happens when Miria miscalculates her attacks and gets a direct hit from the windcutter."

"No I think I can visualize that." Teresa replied.

"Although I must say, during this fight, I have been using far less yoki than usual, and instead tried to focus my attention entirely on to Miria's attacks."

"Putting what I taught you to good use I see" Teresa said, releasing a proud smile.

"We have been suppressing our yoki for seven years. I always thought doing so made me weaker, but it is only now that I realize it has its certain advantages."

"Suppressing your own yoki makes it easier to read your opponents flow" Teresa added.

"I am beginning to understand your style Teresa."

Walking up to Clare, Teresa released a cheeky smile as she spoke: "You defeated Miria, so perhaps you should be the new captain of this group. Captain 'Clare', I like the sound of that."

"I wouldn't make a good leader."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't have leader qualities" Clare replied as she looked up into the blue sky above. Then shortly later, a little smile could be seen on her lips as she turned her face to meet Teresa as she continued: "Just like you."

"Hey what makes you think I'm a bad leader?"

Clare then gave Teresa an odd stare, sending a message that she wasn't fooled by Teresa's obvious bluff.

"Alright, I admit that I'm not the best of leaders either."

* * *

stay tuned.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33.

The day was almost at and end, and darkness began to set upon the training grounds as most of the ghosts sat near each other under the meeting tree exhausted from their intensive training. The only two that were not present under the tree were Raki and Priscilla who stood in the empty field north of the tree, mere meters apart from each other, looking as if they were to begin a sparring match at any moment. The others were all astounded and intrigued at the same time when they noticed Priscilla holding a claymore in her dominant arm, standing casually in front of Raki.

"He's going to fight Priscilla now?" Teresa asked in a surprised, yet disgusted tone.

"The kid obviously has guts…" Helen remarked.

"What I want to know is where she got that Claymore from."

"I gave it to her." Audrey replied.

All heads immediately turned to Audrey's direction with each one of them having a similar look of astonishment on their faces.

"Why would you do that?" Teresa asked.

"Because Raki asked me to."

"Even though Priscilla makes for a good punching bag, fighting her blade with blade is only beneficial to Raki." Galatea wisely spoke.

"I'm quite interested if Priscilla can still use a claymore after all this time." Miria remarked.

"I have no doubt that she's a little rusty," Teresa replied with her arms folded, barely a hint of emotion in her voice, indicating that she was dead serious with her words: "But if she is still anything like I fought her all those years ago, then her skills are probably superior to you."

"No wonder she rose through the ranks so quickly…" Miria said.

"And now that she's awakened, she has an enormous strength and speed advantage."

"Hey! I can still use a claymore and I haven't used one in about a hundred years!" Riful cried.

"Indeed, even after a hundred years you still remember how to wield a blade, although not very well." Teresa replied.

"I used to be the best…" Riful sighed, lowering her head in shame.

Their conversation was cut short as Raki suddenly leapt towards Priscilla with his blade drawn in the empty field just ahead of them. Like with Audrey, Raki was ruthless with his attacks, barely giving Priscilla any time to react to his furious swipes and blows. Teresa released one of her famous faint smiles as she wantched Priscilla casually evade Raki's futile attacks.

"Why doesn't she fight back?" Helen asked in a frustrated voice.

With her faint smile transforming into a smirk, Teresa answered: "Priscilla just needs time to warm up. Raki's swift blows are too overwhelming to block with her claymore at this moment. Give her some time and she will feel confident enough to stop dodging and begin to parry instead."

"We can't expect Priscilla to immediately remember how to defend herself with a blade after all this time. What your asking Helen is comparable to learning how to run before one walks." Galatea said.

Teresa let out a slight chuckle, drawing the attention of all the ghosts. She then turned her attention on their curious faces as she said: "Priscilla would still be able to defeat any one you with only her swordsmanship…she wouldn't even have to use any yoki."

She took the time to glance at Miria and Clare for a moment as she added: "Well…perhaps you two could stand a chance."

"Did you…" Clare mumbled in a quiet voice, sounding as if she was uncomfortable with adding to a conversation that involved Priscilla, but it was obvious that her curiosity got the better of her once again. All heads immediately turned to Clare as she sat next to Teresa against the same tree the two were sitting against for a while now. No one was expecting to hear a word from her because of the matter of the subject, but now that they were proven wrong, they couldn't even guess what she was going to say.

Clare then turned her face to meet Teresa's, looking overwhelmingly intrigued, yet disturbed at the same time. All the ghosts prepared themselves for an crushingly negative feedback from Clare, but found themselves surprised yet again when she continued:

"Did you…know Priscilla?"

Teresa was the only one amongst them who didn't have a look of surprise on her face. Even if she was surprised, she proved to be quite good at hiding that fact. She seemed to collect her thoughts for a moment as she replied:

"No I didn't, we only met when we first fought."

"I see."

Teresa then lowered her head towards the ground, as if her own thoughts were clashing within her mind. It was obvious that there was something she wanted to say that was difficult for her, something that was obviously to do with Priscilla.

"I never told you this, But Priscilla definitely had the potential to rise to my level, perhaps even further."

Those words immediately grabbed the full attention of all the ghosts. They knew that because Priscilla was now an awakened being, she had a definite advantage over Teresa, bit they found it surprising to hear from the most powerful hybrid in history that Priscilla could have surpassed even her.

At that moment, the ghosts heard the unmistakable sound of steel clashing with steel as they turned their gaze back onto the battle and saw Priscilla finally use her claymore to stop Raki's blade in its tracks. Noticing this, Raki immediately froze as he stood in the same attack position with his blade still crossed with Priscilla's. He seemed pleasantly surprised at first, but a proud smile shortly followed suit as he lowered his blade.

"That was a solid block Priscilla." He said.

"They told me I used to be very good with a blade…" She quietly replied as she curiously inspected her blade.

"I can see that they were right."

"Isley taught you well." Priscilla said as she removed her attention off her blade and turned it on to Raki instead.

"Yeah, I guess he did."

"Are you tired Raki?"

"No way, not even close. And you?" he asked.

"No."

"Then there's no reason not to continue is there?" Raki said in a confident tone as he raised his blade in attack position, and without further ado, continued his assault against her. Priscilla responded with a quick dodge of his first powerful strike, followed by a flurry of carefully placed blocks to parry his attacks. It was clear to everyone that Priscilla was naturally gifted with a blade as they watched her use it in a manner similar to Teresa, with the same grace and fluidity in her technique.

"It seems that you were right Teresa," Miria said as she and the rest of the ghosts watched the battle with great curiosity from under the meeting tree: "Priscilla still retains her skills with a blade."

"I was also right when I said that she was rusty," Teresa replied, wearing her all to famous faint smile while analyzing Priscilla's technique carefully: "It seems these ten or so years have made her sloppy and uncoordinated, she was a little better when I fought her back then."

"So you two were the best of your time?" Tabitha asked boldly, causing a short moment of silence as Teresa gave her a strange stare.

"No," She answered in her usual confident voice: "I was the best."

She then returned her gaze back to the battle as she added: "I never said that Priscilla would have eventually surpassed me, I said that she could have, who knows." Giving a smile at Galatea she added: "But the past is the past, it doesn't matter any more because Priscilla threw away her potential along with whatever was left of her humanity, so I guess we'll never know."

The ghosts set their sights back on to the battle as Raki and Priscilla brought their fight dangerously close to them. Their battle had elevated to a point where it seemed that they were completely unaware of their surroundings, caught in the thrill of battle, or at least this was the case with Raki as he frenziedly threw strike after strike against a parrying Priscilla. Raki's attacks were so ruthless, that the ghosts almost felt sorry for Priscilla, but a closer inspection of her face made it clear that Raki wasn't much of a challenge to her at all. She barely even had a trace of emotion, not even the smallest look of aggravation or fear from the fight. Instead, it almost seemed as if the fight bore her.

"Why is it that when there is a sparring match, they always move closer towards us?" Helen asked.

"I suppose that is quite strange." Deneve replied.

"Priscilla is suppressing her yoki very well, in a manner similar to you Teresa." Galatea spoke while she read what little yoki there was in Priscilla's body.

"I'm surprised that you can even read her yoki at all, it is so small that I have difficulty reading it."

"They didn't call me the 'eye' for nothing."

"Her yoki aura is so faint, but I can still make it out." Clare announced to the surprise of the others yet again, causing a short moment of silence among those around her.

"For an awakened being, Priscilla can sure hide her yoki amazingly well. You could almost mistake her for one of you guys." Riful said boldly.

"I suppose you can…" Clare replied with her eyes closely locked on to Priscilla.

Night was already upon them as the ghosts made their way back to Rabona from the training grounds. To the surprise of Teresa and especially Clare, most of the ghosts had already began engaging in conversation with Priscilla, and at one point, Miria could even be seen muttering something to her. To the ghosts, Priscilla didn't seem like much of a monster at all, but they knew that she was still an awakening being, something they must never forget.

Miria didn't want to show it to the others, but she was quite terrified to Priscilla, not so much of the individual, but terrified of her overwhelming strength. The only reason she allowed Riful to temporarily join her group was because of Teresa. She knew that Riful wouldn't dare to turn on them as long as Teresa was in her group, but Priscilla was a different story altogether. With Priscilla now in her group, Teresa could no longer guarantee their safety, and that scared the hell out of her.

"So… Priscilla…"Helen slurred as her and the rest of the ghosts made their way through the wavy plains in the darkness of the night towards Rabona. She sounded as if she felt slightly uncomfortable with talking to Priscilla, but knowing Helen, whatever was on her mind usually had its way of escaping out her mouth.

"Did I do something wrong? Because if I did I apologize if I did." Priscilla replied.

Helen stared at her for a short moment, attempting to get her head around Priscilla's strange response: "What? No."

"Oh, alright then."

Helen then released a short sigh, and then took in a deep breath as she glanced at Miria for a short moment, but returned her attention back on to Priscilla shortly later.

"You know…I've been close to awakening…I just wanted to know…you know…what it feels like."

"Helen!" Deneve scolded as all the ghosts turned their faces towards Helen with a look of shock.

"What?"

"I can't believe you just asked that!"

"Oh come on…" Helen said loudly, with the clear intent of addressing all the ghosts: "It's not like you guys don't want to know."

"I don't remember much…" Priscilla announced softly with her face lowered towards the ground, making it clear that the subject unleashed old memories deep within her mind. All the ghost's eyes were glued on to Priscilla looking as intrigued as ever, with even Clare and Teresa finding the subject too interesting to ignore. Indeed, they all had wondered what awakening felt like, but only a few of them could admit it.

Placing both her hands on the sides of her head, as if trying her hardest to unlock her memories, Priscilla continued: "But I do remember being overwhelmed by a torrent of rage." She then paused for a moment as she tried even harder to collect her thoughts: "I couldn't think properly…I barely knew who or what I was. Then, as the rage reached its peak, it suddenly stopped. The world unexpectedly became deathly silent. It was so peaceful and soothing. It almost felt as if I was reborn again. I no longer felt pain, confusion, frustration…they were all gone."

"It's a great feeling to release…" Riful said in a sadistic tone with a sinister looking smile on her lips: " So many years of holding back your true nature…then finally releasing it at once…it's absolute ecstasy."

"But we're nothing but monsters…you and I…we feed on humans to stay alive…the very people who we swore to defend." Priscilla replied in a regretful tone.

"We are the superior creatures…and they are nothing but our prey"

"No…I refuse to believe that…there must be some other way."

"There is no other way for us to live." Riful answered.

The sadistic look on Riful's face returned yet again as she looked deeply into Priscilla's eyes with her own blood lusted ones as she added: " I especially love the little children…they are so trusting of me it's so cute. I like to toy with them for a while before I rip them apart when they least expect it."

The ghosts had the shock of their lives when Priscilla hastily grabbed Riful by the neck with her left hand and threatening to stab her through the chest with the other. She had a look of disgust on her face, but also a look of uncertainty at the same time. It was clear that she was furious at Riful for what she had said, but deep down, she knew that most of what Riful said was completely true, and she hated that fact more than anything.

"I won't let you do such a thing ever again!" Priscilla scolded in her shaky voice, sounding as if she was going to burst into tears at any moment.

At first Riful seemed afraid of Priscilla's sudden hostility towards her, but her sadistic smile returned yet again as she noticed the tears develop in Priscilla's eyes.

"I know that you feel that same way. Admit it. You love it. You would kill to rip the skin off some poor sucker, tear the meat off his bones and slurp down the guts."

"Shut up…"

"I can smell it on your lips…" Riful continued, while still being held in Priscilla's death grip: "You had a magnificent feast of human guts only yesterday…am I correct?"

Priscilla's hands began to shake, and her grip of Riful's neck weaken as a few tears ran down the sides of her face. Her face no longer had any trace of anger, instead, it was replaced with what seemed like overwhelming sadness and regret. Seeing Priscilla in such a depressed mood, made the ghosts feel sorry for her. Even though she was an awakening being, it was clear that she still hadn't completely come to terms with her awakening.

Releasing her grip on Riful's neck, Priscilla began to slowly back off with her head lowered towards the ground in shame. Nobody expected Priscilla, the most powerful awakening being to show such a human side. In fact, Priscilla seemed far more human that any of them at this moment in time, and it was both fascinating and disturbing for them all.

After a brief moment of thinking to herself, Priscilla proceeded to raise her face to meet the rest of the ghosts once again. Her tears had stopped flowing, but it was clear that she was still mourning on the inside. Riful's words seemed to have hit home, and the ghosts weren't sure if it was a smart move by Riful to talk to Priscilla in such a manner.

"Alright I've had enough of this," Teresa interrupted as she walked in between the two with an annoyed look on her usual calm face. "I don't want to know how great human guts tastes like. Keep your disgusting delicacies to yourself."

"I suppose I have gone a little too far." Riful said.

"At least I regret what I am… " Priscilla mumbled, grabbing the attention of the entire group: "You continue your life knowing that you are hurting people…you don't deserve to live…"

"Don't think about it Priscilla." Teresa warned as she walked In front of Priscilla in a defiant pose, knowing that she was thinking to destroy Riful on the spot. Priscilla had a look of confusion and fear as she looked into Teresa's commanding yet calm looking face. It was the face that scared the hell out of her over ten years ago, and now that most of her memories had returned, that face still managed to scare the hell out of her.

"If you want to kill Riful, then do it later, now is not the time " Teresa said boldly.

"I never said that I would kill Riful… however I would if she threatened Clare's life…"

Priscilla's words sent a shockwave of uneasiness throughout the entire group, with each of them wishing that Priscilla hadn't mentioned Clare's name directly at all. None of them could resist the urge of slowly turning their faces towards Clare to watch her reaction to what Priscilla had said, and what they found was quite surprising. They expected Clare to be furious at Priscilla, but she proved to be completely unpredictable yet again by barely having a reaction whatsoever.

"It seems as if you have a new pet Clare." Teresa said in a lighthearted tone, clearly being the only one brave enough to do so.

Without responding to Teresa, Clare turned her gaze on to Priscilla as she spoke:

"Do not think that I feel sorry for you because you shed some tears. The fact is that you are a monster and there is nothing you can do to change that." She then paused for a moment as she seemed collected her thoughts: "I can now see that it was not entirely your fault for Teresa's death…but make no mistake…I still hate you…and I will always hate you for what you have done. However…we both share a common enemy…an enemy that has ruined not only both our lives, but the lives of everyone else within this group, and we need to make sure that enemy burns to the ground."

"I understand…" Priscilla replied after a short moment of silence.

All the ghosts gave each other an edgy stare as they processed Clare's speech about Priscilla and the organization. They would never have expected for Clare to say something so wise, something so selfless. For a moment, she had the confidence and the voice of their leader, Miria. It was clear to them that they still hadn't met the real Clare, even after being with her for seven years.

Finally arriving at the great city of Rabona, they entered the secret southern side entrance to enter the city, using the darkness of the night as cover as they silently made their way to the side of the grand cathedral. All attention turned on to Clare once again as the ghosts stood just outside the entrance to their base, with their gaze franticly flickering between Clare and Priscilla. It seemed that none of knew whether Priscilla would be staying inside with them, or spending the night outside yet again, but they were dying to find out. After Clare's speech, not even Miria had the courage to speak without knowing exactly what Clare was thinking at this moment in time.

Realizing that everyone was waiting on her, Clare scoffed at the idea as she irritably turned her head to the side, sending a clear message to everyone that she was not thrilled with the idea of being waited on.

"I know what you are all waiting for, and I am sorry to disappoint. If Miria allows Priscilla to come inside our base, then that is good enough for me. Do not look for my approval."

With that, she turned her back on the group and made her way through the thick bushes on the side of the cathedral, opened the wooden door hidden behind it, and made her way inside the base without saying anything further.

"I will stay on the roof again…I don't mind." Priscilla said.

"You don't have to do that Priscilla," Miria concurred, with her usual overconfident voice: "it is far more comfortable inside."

"But there aren't any more beds…so you are going to have to sleep on the floor…" Helen said awkwardly.

"I don't expect anything more anyway."


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34:

Well its finally here, chapter 34. I would just like to clear something up.

I am not dead.

Ok, now that that's out of the way let me continue:

I just had a break from this writing thing. I really don't have much time to write anymore unfortunately, so updates are going to be slower than usual, but not as slow as from 33-34 I assure you.

Anyways, enjoy the chapter.

* * *

The following night went surprisingly smoothly to the relief of everyone, with only a minimum of uncomfortable situations between Priscilla and Clare. The two tended to avoid each other as much as possible, however maintaining this separation was proven to be impossible when living under the same roof. It was always awkward whenever Clare and Priscilla happened to walk down the same corridor from different ends, resulting in Clare giving Priscilla an odd stare as they eventually passed each other. The other ghosts however, didn't seem to be bothered by Priscilla's presence as much as Clare seemed to be. They were already used to having two awakened beings around them, so having another one joining their ranks almost seemed like something that was to be expected. Even though the ghosts didn't seem to have much of a problem with Priscilla, very few of them dared to speak to her for too long, not because they were afraid of her, but because they didn't know how Clare would have reacted. The only one in their group who maintained conversation with Priscilla was Raki, and strangely enough, Clare didn't seem as bothered by it than everyone expected. It was concluded by everyone that Clare had accepted that Priscilla and Raki were friends, though how comfortable she was about it remained unknown to them.

Of course Priscilla didn't dare to sleep in the common room with Clare, so she wisely decided to sleep alone on the floor in the main room next to the fireplace. None of the ghosts knew exactly why Priscilla decided to sleep next to the fireplace as awakened beings were virtually unaffected by the cold. They figured that she must have felt the most comfortable being near a fire, which must have given her some form of psychological warmth instead of physical warmth.

Clare was the first among the ghosts to leave the common room and enter the main room where Priscilla rested. It was obvious to Priscilla that Clare hadn't slept for a couple of days now, and by the look on her face, it seems as though she had completely given up on it. As Clare made her way towards the main room where Priscilla resided, the awakened being knew not to make her presence to obvious to the already distressed warrior, not knowing how Clare would react if she did so.

As Clare finally entered the room, Priscilla closed her eyes and pretended to be fast asleep in order to prevent an awkward situation from getting any more awkward. She didn't entirely understand the reason for Clare deciding to enter the room by herself, but she knew that it probably was not to engage in conversation.

"I thought your kind don't get cold."

Priscilla immediately opened her eyes in awe as she heard those words from Clare. She never imagined that Clare would have even bothered to speak to her in private, but it seems that she was wrong.

"It's true, we don't get cold, I just like the fire." She responded, still unable to grasp the idea that she had engaged in conversation with somebody who hated her mercilessly.

Before replying to Priscilla, Clare casually made her way towards the small window on the wall adjacent to where Priscilla and the fireplace resided, with the view of the great city of Rabona. She stopped to a halt in front of the window to calmly gaze at the spectacular vista in front of her as she finally replied:

"I have waited so long to confront you…so long to finally take my revenge on you. Your face has haunted my dreams for as long as I can remember…you have ripped the very spirit from my soul when you killed Teresa." She then slowly turned her infuriated- looking face towards Priscilla, with her icy cold eyes penetrating the very soul of the awakening being, who's only response was to lower her face in shame.

Clare then began to walk towards Priscilla with those cold eyes of hers still solidly locked on to her. Staring into those eyes, Priscilla felt a wave of uneasiness, even a wave of fear spread throughout her body. Those eyes reminded her of Teresa's, and even to this day, it scared the hell out of her. It made her feel like the weaker warrior once more, kneeling like a pathetic worm before a much greater power, with the very fear paralyzing her entire body and soul.

Noticing the strange look on Priscilla's face, Clare immediately stopped in her tracks to inspect it closer. The gruesome hatred had left her normally calm looking face, and was suddenly replaced with a mystified one, looking as if there was something that puzzled her mind greatly.

"Teresa…" Priscilla quietly mumbled as an influx of memories about her fight with Teresa flooded her mind.

"What did you say?" Clare asked with a look of horror on her face. She didn't know exactly why Priscilla said that name, and it infuriated her greatly that she would dare say that name in her presence.

"Nothing…" Priscilla answered, moving her head off to the side.

"I remind you of Teresa?" Clare said in a wicked, satisfied tone as she crossed her arms with a satisfied grin on her face. She seemed to be proud of the fact that she produced such terror within her sworn enemy. While staring into her terrified eyes, Clare didn't even wait for Priscilla to respond as she continued:

"Teresa scares you that much?"

"What is it that you want?" Priscilla concurred, looking extremely uncomfortable at the direction their conversation was heading.

"I want you to suffer as much as possible, to suffer as much as I have." Clare replied in a sinister tone.

"And you don't think that I've suffered in my life?" Pricilla replied in frustration as she got to her feet, raising her voice almost to the point of yelling.

Clare seemed too shaken to even find the words to respond to Priscilla. It was clear that she was not expecting such a response from her at all, so she stood in front her most hated enemy awkwardly with a bewildered face.

"I'm sorry for what I have done, but you're not the only one in the entire world who is suffering. Every one of us is suffering, myself included. Do you even know what happened to me when I was a child? How my father ate my mother before my eyes! How I had to cut off his head with my bare hands!"

Clare's already bewildered face intensified to a whole other level, with her eyes widening in amazement and shock. It was clear that her mind was still desperately trying to comprehend what she had just heard, and trying to make sense out of it. After a short moment of silence, Clare took a step backward, with that calm look on her gentle face finally returning. For the first time since the beginning of their conversation, she removed eye contact with Priscilla and responded in her usual cold, emotionless voice:

"Whatever, It's a pity that the yoma didn't kill you as well."

Lowering her head in shame yet again, Priscilla answered: "I suppose you're right…everything would have been better if I have never existed."

Turning her back to Priscilla, Clare proceeded to make her way out of the room as she announced: "When all this is over…only one of us will continue to stand, I will make sure of that."

Before she could exit the room, Clare stopped in her tracks as Priscilla spoke:

"You can kill me after our mission is accomplished…I will not put up any resistance."

* * *

When the time came, Miria made sure to wake all the ghosts and assemble them in the main room for a meeting regarding their plans against the organization. She wasn't surprised to see that Clare was already awake, thinking to herself as she had been doing for the past few days. She knew that Clare was overly distressed and confused about Priscilla's sudden arrival, and only time would tell if she could maintain this 'peace' for much longer.

As she expected, Clare and Teresa were the last among them to join the meeting, with both of them standing a considerable distance away from Priscilla. She noticed Clare often glancing at Priscilla with that same confused look on her face, obviously extremely uncomfortable with Priscilla's presence.

"Why don't we just let Priscilla do everything? From what I've seen she is unstoppable." Helen spurred.

"No Helen," Miria concurred with a high level of authority in her voice: "Priscilla may be powerful, but what happens if she ends up getting killed? We will loose a valuable member in our resistance."

"I agree with Helen," Teresa announced in a cold manner, gaining everyone's attention in the process: "Let Priscilla weaken them for us, and perhaps she will even accomplish the deed for us entirely."

"Teresa…I don't think that's a good idea." Miria sighed.

"I don't understand why you are so willing to put us all in danger when Priscilla can probably do it by herself."

"We all have a score to settle with the organization," Clare said in her usual soft voice from next to Teresa. Clare was never one to say much, but when she did, the others listened. She proved time and time again that she was indeed wiser than she let out to be, and almost everything she ever spoke of was very relevant to their current situation:

"I'm sure I speak for everyone," she continued: "when I say that we all want to be a part of the team that takes the organization down."

"Well said Clare." Miria replied with a surprised, yet proud look on her face.

Teresa lowered her head in defeat, knowing that there was no point in arguing with Clare. She had been a rebel for far longer than herself, and it was obvious to her that Clare and her party had been planning this day for a very long time now. A little smile could be seen on Teresa's lips when she realized just how similar Clare was to herself. They both shared the same stubbornness, pride and confidence almost to the point of arrogance. She was proud of Clare, proud that she had become a powerful individual, but more importantly, she was proud of the fact that Clare had grown to possess a very strong sense of direction. Just like herself, Clare knew what she wanted, and she was going to do anything to make sure it is done.

"You want to take down the organization?" Teresa said with a proud smirk on her face as she placed her right hand gently against Clare's right shoulder and locked on to her eyes: "You want to go to hell and back? Fair enough, it's obvious that you made up your mind and there is nothing I can say to deter you from your decision. I just want to let you know that I will always be by your side no matter what decisions you make."

"I'm glad that you decided to help us." Clare answered in a relieved tone.

"Do you really think that I would let you do such a thing by yourself?" Teresa replied in a lighthearted, playful tone, using the tip of her index finger to gently poke at Clare's nose: "Your not going anywhere alone Kiddo."

"Thanks Teresa."

"Besides, I have my own score to settle with the organization."

"And what is that?" Clare asked with a bewildered look.

With an entrancing stare, Teresa answered: "You told me they tried to kill you, and there's going to be hell to pay for that."

"So Miria, what do you have in mind?" Tabitha asked, noticing that the two have finished their conversation.

Surprisingly, Teresa arrogantly marched towards Miria with her arms folded in obvious defiance to what Tabitha had just said. She walked with such fluidity and grace, but at the same time, with dominance and overwhelming authority. It was quite obvious that Teresa was trying to intimidate every warrior in the room, and even though it seemed to work well with every other ghost, their captain, Miria, continued to stand her ground indefinitely without the slightest sense of fear or intimidation apparent. Teresa stopped to a halt in front of the fearless leader, attempting to use her superior height as a last ditch effort to show off her supremacy as she looked down on her with her mystifying silver eyes.

With their faces only mere inches a part, Teresa continued her intimidating stare against Miria as she spoke with a level of authority that made it clear to everyone why she was called the most powerful hybrid in history: "This mission is too dangerous for me to follow orders from somebody else. No offense."

"I'm listening." Miria responded, while continuing to stand her ground, looking as intrigued as ever.

"In case you haven't noticed, it is my fault that Clare ended up a hybrid, and I will make sure that this mission goes as smoothly as possible without compromising her safety. As far as I am aware, I am the highest ranking former warrior here, so that automatically makes me the leader of this resistance."

"Hey I was ranked number one as well!" Riful whined.

"You hardly count." Teresa coldly replied, causing Riful to give Teresa a cross look.

Returning her gaze back on to Miria, she added: "It's nothing personal, it's just that I cannot allow anything to happen to Clare once again."

"I understand your need to protect me Teresa," Clare said, taking a step towards where Teresa and Miria stood: "But you must understand that times have changed, and you no longer have all the answers."

"How much could it have changed?"

"A great deal Teresa." Audrey added out from the blue: "Their experiments have accelerated a great deal since back then. The fact that you are alive is living proof of that."

It was apparent by the look on Teresa's face that she had been taken by surprise by Audrey's and especially Clare's comment. She was not used to somebody correcting her in such a manner, and it was difficult for her to admit that her pride was blinding her from the truth. As arrogant as she was, she was not naïve enough to not realize that the two of them were right. Indeed it had been a long time since she had been number one, and her knowledge about the organization and the land were probably long since outdated.

With a trivial smile on her lips, Teresa lowered her head towards the floor and took a step closer towards the fireplace as she let out a sigh:

"I suppose your right," she said, raising her face upwards to gaze upon the fire that burnt brightly in front of her: "I sometimes forget how long it has been since I was last alive."

"You need to swallow your pride Teresa and work with us if we are to succeed." Galatea said boldly, clearly the only one brave enough to do so.

Turning her face to meet Galatea, Teresa answered in an unexpectedly calm and reasonable tone: "You have been the only one in a very long time to talk to me in such a manner. I commend your courage." She then let out one of her faint smiles and firmly locked her icy eyes on to Galatea as she added in a cold tone: "If it wasn't for your friendship with Clare, I would have made sure a long time ago that it wasn't just your eyes that were permanently damaged."

"Then I suppose I am grateful that Clare is here to keep you in check." Galatea retorted cheekily.

"Don't push it…"

"Fighting amongst ourselves won't help our situation," Clare announced, then quickly turning to face Raki who stood in silence next to her, she asked: "Raki, Did you come across anything of interest during your time in the organization's headquarters?"

"Not really, they only made me fight a few Clay…I mean warriors, including Audrey."

"You can say 'Claymore' if you please, I'm confident that we have other worries on our mind at this moment in time."

"Oh, alright then."

"You guys are so boring," Riful whined from the far corner of the room, gradually making her way closer towards the middle where the group resided.

With her cold, sadistic smile, she added: "We don't need a plan. We just charge in, crush them, pull out their limbs and organs and obliterate everyone or anything in our way."

"You should listen to Miria and the others," Priscilla announced after a prolonged moment of silence. Nobody was expecting her to add to a conversation unless it related directly to her, but it appeared that she had acquired the confidence to speak out loud: "We don't know entirely what we are up against."

"You really think the organization can beat us all? And especially you?" Riful concurred.

"I'm not sure…but it's best to be safe. Our chances of success increase if we all work together."

"Have you ever lost in battle?" Riful asked with obvious ridicule and a slight sense of jealousy and sarcasm.

Lowering her head in shame, Priscilla responded to the shock of everyone: "Yes once…"

"You mean there's somebody more powerful than you?" Riful asked, completely wide eyed.

Whichever heads weren't already turned towards Priscilla were turned towards her now. None of them could hold back the great curiosity that resided in their minds about Priscilla and her apparent 'loss' in a battle.

After a brief moment of silence, and with her head still lowered, Priscilla continued in her gloomy voice: "I was defeated by someone who was far more powerful than me, someone who was faster and stronger than me. I never stood a chance."

It was then apparent that the person whom she was referring to was none other than Teresa, as she raised her lowered face to gaze upon the wavy haired warrior with great insecurity in her eyes. The others swore they saw what they thought to be fear in Priscilla's eyes as the awakened being stared nervously at Teresa.

"Ok, somebody is going to have to explain all this to me." Riful said out loud in frustration, clearly not understanding a word that Priscilla had just said.

"Indeed, you are pathetic now," Teresa said in a calm, yet serious manner: "But you still have your pride to fight for. You were once human like the rest of us, I suppose even you deserve justice."

"I guess…"

"It wasn't your fault you awakened anyway," Teresa continued: "Irene and the organization should have known better than to only rely on your latent abilities. You were very young and unable to control yourself."

"I see now." Priscilla said as she took a step backward and held her hand in a tight fist: "I see how manipulative the organization is, and I see how they ruin lives. My only reason to live now is to put an end to this injustice, so I request that you leave it to me to destroy the organization on all our behalf. I will make sure I use all the strength they gave me to put an end to them once and for all. It is the closest thing I could do to redeem myself."

"How dare you…" Clare grumbled.

"What do you mean?" Priscilla replied, not understanding exactly what is was that made Clare talk to her with such hostility all of a sudden.

"You're not the only one that wants to destroy the organization. We all do as well. What makes you think you have the right to do this on your own?"

"I was only trying to make sure that no harm comes to you." was Priscilla's response.

"Your 'protection' is not wanted." Clare said in a sarcastic, arrogant manner: "Your strength and agility however…would be very useful."

"If that is what you wish, then I will comply entirely."

"Alright so it is settled," Miria announced: "We will all participate in the destruction of the organization."

* * *

Stay tuned.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

'_We will all participate in the destruction of the organization.'_

Those words remained frozen within Clare's mind as she stood on the edge of the cathedral's lonely rooftop with the cool, yet rejuvenating breeze of the night racing past her body, playing with every strand of hair, and every piece of fabric on her body that was exposed to it's gentle hands.

For so many years she and the rest of her comrades had been training so hard for the day to overthrow the organization, but now that the day was finally at hand, she began having doubts in her mind for the first time in seven years. As Clare stared off into the distance, into the seemingly endless sea of houses and towers of Rabona, it suddenly became apparent that her need to overthrow the organization was just a way to release her anger at the world.

Her entire life had been one of emptiness, and what little happiness Teresa gave her all those years ago only lasted for a very brief moment. The moment was over when Teresa was killed, and that emptiness that haunted her before had returned accompanied with an overwhelming hatred for Priscilla. That Hatred for Priscilla had become a way of life for her, but now that Teresa had returned to her, her entire way of thinking had been reversed in an instant.

_So what now…_

_Should I continue my hatred for Priscilla?_

_Should I threaten this happiness to overthrow the organization?_

_What would I do if something were to happen to Teresa again?_

_Is this what I really want?_

"There you are," An all to familiar voice announced from behind her.

"Just thinking to myself, a lot has happened lately."

"That's true," Teresa replied as she walked towards Clare who stood dangerously close to the edge of the steep roof.

"I know that I'm not the most social person in the world, but now that I'm here, you can talk to me about anything." Teresa said in the kindest voice she could muster, although sounding quite uncomfortable about sounding so compassionate.

"I have always been talking to you Teresa." Clare replied, turning her face to meet her with a childish looking smile on her rather thin lips: "When I was alone and I lost my way, I closed my eyes and imagined that you were right next to me. Did you hear my words?"

"Clare I was dead."

"So you didn't hear anything…"

"No."

"Well you can hear me now right? Your back and you can hear my voice once again." Clare said in a joyful manner as she wrapped her arms around Teresa in a tight embrace.

"Clare…you know I'm no good at comforting anyone…" Teresa announced in a surprised tone, looking quite uncomfortable about being held so intimately.

"You may not think you are any good at it…but you have been my only source of comfort throughout most of my life"

"You know…" Teresa said in a gloomy voice: "When I was brought back to life, I thought you might have forgotten me."

"I will never forget. Never ever forget." Clare replied as she pulled apart from Teresa.

A short moment of silence set upon the two as they turned their gazes away from each other and set them upon the view of the city below them.

"Tell me Clare," Teresa said as the wind played gently with her long wavy hair: "What do you plan to do after all this?"

"After all what?"

Giving Clare a look that made it clear that she wasn't fooled by her 'playing dumb' attitude, Teresa added: "I know that you've given it some thought, in fact, I believe that you were thinking about the very subject just before I found you here."

"I don't know…"

"Well don't think on it too much now. It's important that you focus your mind on the battle ahead."

"I suppose that you're right…the upcoming battle will need my full attention."

The two ex-warriors once again stood next to each other in silence, taking in the spectacular view of the city and embracing the chilly winds that usually battered the cathedral's serene rooftop.

"It's quite strange…" Teresa suddenly spoke, breaking the calming silence between them.

"What is?"

Glancing into Clare's eyes for a moment before locking them on to the stars above, Teresa continued: "Never mind Clare, I was merely thinking out loud."

"Tell me." Clare stubbornly replied, clearly not satisfied with Teresa's answer.

Releasing a sigh of defeat, Teresa continued: "Now that things have calmed down, I've had some time to think things through, and there is something that I cannot quite figure out. There is definitely something strange going on from within the organization…I know a thing or two about how they run, and something just doesn't add up. Now that I think about it, it doesn't make sense for the organization to return me to life. They must have known that I would have no intention of joining them."

"What are you saying?"

"It's almost as if they were counting on me escap…"

"Priscilla's gone!" an anxious voice screeched from behind them.

As they turned their attention to the source of the voice, they could see a panting Miria who had just emerged from the stairs leading to their base below. It was quite rare to see Miria in such a distressed state, but when something as serious as this happens, even Miria herself can occasionally lose herself in the moment.

"That fool…" Teresa sighed, making a face palm while lowering her head.

"Who cares." Clare said naively without a hint of emotion evident in her voice.

"Clare," Miria continued with a slightly shaky voice, making it clear that this situation was a serious one indeed: "We all know how unstable Priscilla is. The last thing we need is for her to cause commotion and potentially give away our position to the organization!"

Clare returned her sight back towards the view of the city, reluctantly releasing a grunt of irritation as she realized that Miria was right. Priscilla was far to unpredictable and could not be trusted in such a populated place by herself. If she were to be discovered by the guards, a panic would ensue, and a city- wide search for any others like her would most likely commence. This would mean that the ghosts' hideout would most likely be discovered, and there wouldn't be anything father Vincent could do about it. If such an event did take place, and the ghosts were to be driven out of the city, word would quickly spread to the organization, and their plan of taking the enemy off guard would fail.

"I thought Raki was watching over her…" Clare said in a manner that made her annoyance painfully obvious.

"He's out looking for her now," Miria responded in a calmer voice: "I would like for you and Teresa to go in search for her. It would be unwise if we send out a large search party in such a place."

"When we find them… I'm going to have a little talk with Raki…" Clare added in the same annoyed voice as she gracefully leapt off the edge of the tall roof and on to the murky street below.

"Me and Clare will handle this." Teresa said as she watched the last of Clare's figure disappear into the darkness of the night.

"Teresa…make sure…"

"I know boss," Teresa answered in a sarcastic manner, even adding a bold salute to the captain as she added: "I'll make sure to not disturb the peace."

With his newly acquired strength and agility, Raki leapt from building to building frantically looking for any signs of Priscilla. He had already given up on trying to read her yoki aura a short while ago as it was far to small to detect, and instead, resorted to finding her by sight alone. This was no simple task, as even with his newly acquired eyes, the almost pitch black of the night made it difficult for him to navigate his surroundings, let alone to find a lone girl in this vast city.

"Hey you!" a male voice yelled from Raki's right side as he landed on the roof of a rather important looking building on the western side of the city, only a few hundred meters away from the cathedral.

Turning his attention to the source of the voice, Raki could see a lone Rabonian guard sprinting frantically towards him from the opposite side of the building. He was wearing the standard guard uniform issued to Rabonian guards, and had a longbow firmly held in his dominant arm with a quiver on his back.

Seeing this as an opportunity to discover Priscilla's whereabouts, Raki naively asked: "Have you seen a girl with short brown hair around here?"

"I don't know what you think you're doing, but you shouldn't be out at this time!" he yelled back in an aggressive manner, reaching for an arrow from his quiver on his back.

"Please sir calm down, I'm not here to cause any trouble."

"Get back to your home otherwise I'll put you under arrest!" the guard continued, grabbing an arrow on his bow and threatening to fire it at Raki.

"Hey I don't even live here!"

"An intruder then! Excellent! Capturing you will double my pay!"

Immediately after the guard finished what he was saying, Raki could see a shadowy figure suddenly appear behind the man without making the slightest sound or creating the slightest disturbance in the air. Raki's first instinct was to reach for his weapon that was mounted against his back, but stopped his action halfway when he noticed a pair of brilliant silver eyes within the shadows of the figure. At that moment it was clear who those beautiful, yet frightening eyes belonged to.

"Good night." The shadowy figure whispered from behind the man, immediately gaining his attention and causing him to lose that confident smirk on his face as he realized there was somebody strange standing behind him.

With a swift blow to the side of his head, the man was made instantaneously unconscious, causing his body to collapse against the cold rooftop.

"Was that really necessary Clare?"

"These people aren't into diplomatic solutions." She responded as she began to walk closer towards him with an irritating look on her usually calm looking face.

"Look…I know that it was my responsibility to watch over Priscilla." he said nervously as he watched Clare approach him while she stared at him furiously like a predator to it's wounded prey: "I'm sorry for causing you and everyone else so much trouble… you must hate me now…"

As he finished what he was saying, Clare stopped in front of him with an emotionless look on her face as she continued to stare at him feverishly. He wasn't sure what to expect from her, but he was prepared for the worst. Clare had already proven to him that she was an impossible individual to read, and this time was no exception.

"Don't apologize," She said in one of her unusually warm tones, sending a wave of relief throughout Raki's body: "and don't ever say that I hate you. I can never hate you."

"I'm sorry."

"What did I just say?" Clare responded, looking completely bewildered at what he had said.

"Oh right… sorry…umm I mean…."

Listen to Raki babble on like a fool made Clare look as if she was ready to imply a face palm at any moment, but somehow resisting the urge to do so. Raki was always a very polite and positive person, and it was a trait that he couldn't help as it was a part of his personality.

_So this is how Teresa must have felt when she first met me… was I really that annoying?_

"Hey Clare, are you alright?"

Snapping out of her thoughts, Clare returned eye contact back on to Raki as she answered: "Yes, of course."

"Is that guard going to be alright?" Raki asked while turning his attention to the unconscious man lying against the roof a few meters away from them both.

"I applied enough force to not cause any permanent damage to him. He will remain unconscious for a few hours." Clare said in a detached manner, then changed the course of their conversation as she continued: "Do you have any leads on Priscilla?"

"No."

"Do you have any idea where she would have gone to?"

Turning his back to Clare, Raki walked towards the edge of the roof they were both standing on as he released a heavy sigh: "Priscilla always does this..."

"Does what?"

"She just kind of…wonders off…I have known her for seven years and I have never understood it."

"Well her stupid habit better not give away our position." Clare responded harshly while crossing her arms to show her irritation.

It was at that moment the both of them felt the sudden arrival of an anonymous figure that had just appeared behind them without making the faintest of sounds. Clare didn't even have to turn around to visually identify the newcomer, as the aura made it overwhelmingly obvious who this person was.

"What took you so long?" Clare asked with her back still turned to the figure, confident of her identity.

"I just had a little chat with Miria." Teresa responded as she walked up to the two of them: "Because you two are standing here, I'm guessing you have no idea where Priscilla is."

"You are right, we have no idea." Clare replied to Teresa, then turned her attention on to Raki as she asked: "Any clues on where she can be?"

"Well she usually likes to be in quiet places…usually with a good view."

"Alright…I say we split up and search in different areas of the city." Clare said.

"Clare…are you sure about that…" Teresa responded, not looking convinced about the plan.

"What are you afraid of Teresa? Raki made it clear that we can trust Priscilla now." Clare said in a cold, sarcastic manner that made it evident that she was still in a terrible mood.

"Yeah I said that Clare…but she can be unpredictable when she does this…" Raki responded in a similar unconvinced tone to Teresa.

"If we split up…our chances of finding her increase threefold, besides I am not afraid of her."

"Well if you insist Clare…" Raki said as he turned his attention to the western side of the city: "I was already going in this direction, so I'll continue going this way…be careful."

With one last glance at Clare, Raki leapt off the edge of the building and within a few seconds, his figure had disappeared from view as it was engulfed by the darkness of the city streets. With Raki now gone, Clare turned her attention to a worried looking Teresa who now began to approach her closer.

"Clare…"

"I know that you're worried about me." Clare responded in a warm tone, then, almost immediately changing it to a cold, harsher one as she added: "But what does it matter? Even if you were with me, if Priscilla wanted to kill me there would be nothing you could do to stop her."

Not hearing a response from the wavy haired warrior, Clare continued: "Besides…what's important is that we find her as soon as possible."

After a short moment of taking in all that Clare had just said, Teresa lowered her head in submission as she realized once again that Clare was right. If Priscilla really did want to kill Clare, there was nothing she could do about it. The only thing that she could do was attract Priscilla's attention and hope that Clare would use that opportunity to flee, but she knew that Clare would stubbornly stick by her even to the death. Besides, her body had recently recovered from a terrible beating, and it wouldn't be as effective in battle as it was before.

"Alright Clare, lets find her and get this over with," Teresa said in a far more confident voice, turning to her side as she walked towards the South- eastern side of the building. "Just be careful alright?" were her last words as she gracefully leaped off the edge of the roof and disappeared into the shadows.

Now that Teresa was gone and she was alone, Clare turned her attention to the North Eastern part of the city that was her part of the city to explore. Letting out a sigh, she walked to the edge of the roof and stealthily leapt towards the nearest building as she headed for her designated area.

_Seriously…_

_The one person I wanted to kill for most of my life…_

_And the boy that I saved from a yoma all those years ago…_

_Just happened to know each other during the time that we were separated._

_Out of all the people and monsters he could have encountered during his journey, it just HAD to be her._

_And Teresa returned to me…_

_Then I almost lost her again…_

_And now…_

_My greatest enemy is practically sleeping under the same roof as I…_

_Now I am on a wild goose chase to recover the one person I couldn't stand…_

_There is no way all this is just a coincidence. _

Approaching the outer wall of the city, Clare scanned the area around her for any signs of Priscilla but remained unsuccessful. Priscilla's yoki suppression was remarkable for an awakened being, and even somebody like Galatea could only sense her presence from a few hundred meters away in an open area like in the plains, but that range would be severely reduced in a city such as this one. Judging by what Raki had said, Priscilla could be anywhere in Rabona. This city had many tranquil places for one to enjoy the peaceful company of the stars, and Clare for one, probably knows this best.

Silently landing on the tallest building in the general area, Clare stopped to collect her thoughts, and ponder as to where Priscilla could possibly be residing.

_If I were a depressed, lonely and confused individual…where would I be?_

_Wait…_

_That sounds a bit like me…_

_No…_

_Her and I have nothing in common!_

It was then when Clare noticed a figure that closely resembled Priscilla standing on top of the outer wall of the city where the guards would often patrol. The wall that surrounded the city was so large, that it was actually a hybrid between a road and a wall. From the side, one would assume this was just an enormous stone wall, but viewed from the top, it looked more like an elevated highway that surrounded the city. After squinting her eyes to focus better on the figure, it became clear that it was indeed Priscilla, who just stood there like a statue looking out to the horizon.

_There you are…_

_What are you doing?_

_Priscilla?_

Without hesitation, Clare shot into the air, frantically leaping over various buildings until she finally landed on top of the wall where Priscilla stood, standing just a few meters behind her. Looking to her sides, Clare released a sigh of relief when she saw no sign of any troublesome guards, which she would no doubt have to knock out if they interfered. Confident that they were alone, Clare proceeded to make her way towards Priscilla who continued to stand on the edge of the wall, staring off to the distance, seemingly unaware of her presence.

"Priscilla?" Clare said warily, slowing her pace as the distance between them was slowly being reduced.

Not hearing a response from the awakened being, Clare began to lose her patience. She walked right up to the awakened being, standing a mere meter behind her as she spoke for a second time in a slightly less tolerant voice: "Priscilla what the hell are you doing?"

After hearing Clare's voice for a second time, Priscilla gradually turned her body around until she finally faced Clare. She had a strange look on her face, even stranger than what Clare was used to during their short time together. Clare tried so hard not to care what was going on in Priscilla's mind, but her curiosity once again got the better of her.

"Why are you standing here?"

"There…is something strange…" was Priscilla's odd response.

"What are you talking about?"

Returning her gaze back on to the spectacular view outside of Rabona's great gates, Priscilla answered: "We are not alone."

Frustrated by Priscilla's inability to make sense, Clare began to lose her calm and raise her voice in an attempt to snap Priscilla out of her trance.

"You're not making any sense! Tell me exactly what you mean!"

"Why hello there Clare." A strangely familiar voice slithered from her right side.

Clare was beyond bewildered to see none other than Rubel emerging from a set of stairs that led towards the city streets. He was exactly as Clare had remembered, wearing the same black clothes, distinctive hat and glasses to cover that sly face of his. Of course, he had that usual sinister grin on his face as he calmly made his way to an edgy Clare who immediately drew her claymore in defense.

"How the hell did you find us?" Clare stormed aggressively, while pointing her claymore towards Rubel in a threatening pose.

"My my Clare, I don't remember you being so rude. That's not the way you are supposed to greet an old friend." He replied in his creepy, sinister voice.

"You are not my friend."

All this commotion seemed to have snapped Priscilla out of her trance as the awakened being finally appeared to take notice of Rubel's presence. She took one step towards an alarmed looking Rubel, as the two of them exchanged odd stares on to one another.

"Who are you?" she said in an innocent sounding voice.

"Clare…you should introduce me to this lovely young…lady." Rubel said with great uncertainty evident in his voice, suddenly realizing that there was something very odd about this girl.

"She is not a friend either…what do you want?"

"Well this is certainly a strange turn of events Clare. Who would have thought that you two would be working together? Rather ironic don't you think?"

"What do you want?" was Clare's harsh response.

"Well this is certainly going to complicate the organization's plans…for the rebels to have such a powerful awakened being as their ally…"

"Tell me one reason why I shouldn't slice your head off right now."

"Alright Alright Clare… I can see that you are in a bad mood, so I'll be straight with you…listen carefully to what I have to say…"


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

The former warrior and handler stared intently into each other's eyes, flooding the area in between them with such enormous tension, it felt as if the very stone beneath their feet would crumble against it. It had been seven years since Clare had seen Rubel, but this was not a happy reunion in the slightest. If Rubel knew where to find her, then there was no doubt in her mind that the Organization knew as well. Upon this realization, a sudden rush of panic flooded through her mind, causing her body to loose the almost perfect composure she had maintained for the duration of their short conversation.

"A little bit nervous are we?" Rubel said with an ugly smug on his face.

"I was serious when I said that I would kill you."

"Very well, I won't keep you for much longer," He replied as he casually removed his hat from his head and took a step backwards, ignoring the fact that he had a blade directed at his throat.

"How did you know we were here?"

"The Organization knows more than you may believe."

"Enough games Rubel!" Clare ordered out of frustration.

Taking some time to clear his throat, dust off his hat and return it back on his head, Rubel answered with a sly smile on his lips:

"You think Teresa escaped from the Organization?"

"Where are you going with this?" Clare replied with an intrigued, yet disturbed look on her face.

"Everything went according to plan for the organization...well...not everything, but most of it."

"What are you talking about? What plan?"

Releasing a sigh, Rubel continued: "Did you really think that the organization resurrected Teresa to try and win her back? Someone who clearly would never return willingly?"

Noticing that Clare was too bewildered by his words to continue pointing her claymore towards him, Rubel began to gradually make his way closer towards her while keeping his eyes sealed on to her own silvery ones.

"You're...trying to trick me." Clare said rather unconvincingly, lowering her blade further and further as she watched the man approaching her slowly.

"No, you have it all wrong Clare, I am telling you this so I can help you."

"No... I've had enough of this..." Clare said angrily as she coldly turned her back on Rubel and set her sight on a confused looking Priscilla: "Come Priscilla, we're leaving."

"Clare...The organization is sending its forces to dispatch all of you."

Hearing those harsh words from Rubel immediately sent a chill of fear down her spine. There was no say she could ignore something like that, even if it was from someone as sly as Rubel. Slowly but surely, Clare turned around until she once again faced her ex handler, wide eyed with anticipation.

"I'm listening."

"Alicia and Beth are making their way here as we speak."

"Let them come..." Clare said confidently, not looking alarmed in the slightest.

"Of course... Alicia and Beth are ordered to destroy you 'ghosts', but the Organization has other plans for Teresa."

"And what is that exactly?"

"It's quite marvelous actually, they have created creatures that will hunt an individual relentlessly and will not stop until they are destroyed."

"You're talking about Abyssal feeders?"

With a surprised look on his ugly face, Rubel replied: "I'm astounded that you know so much Clare. But you're only half correct. Abyssal feeders were designed to hunt abyssal ones, but these feeders only hunt a certain yoki signature."

"Certain yoki signature?"

Noticing the anxious look on Clare's face, Rubel added: "The warrior they are hunting is Teresa, and even though her blood flows through your veins, you should be relatively unnoticed by them, since they only go after the strongest yoki."

"You think a few of these creatures are enough to kill Teresa? I thought that you would know better than me just how powerful Teresa is."

"I know that Teresa is powerful, and yes I probably know even better than you, but that doesn't change the fact that she doesn't stand a chance."

"Not if I have something to do about it." Clare said defiantly.

"No, I really don't think you will be much help at all..." Rubel said with his sinister sounding voice before turning his attention to the thin brown haired figure standing among them: "But Priscilla is a different story altogether. Even I didn't see this one coming."

"But..." Clare said before pausing for a moment to collect her thoughts: "Why would the Organization bring Teresa back to life, only to hunt her when she escaped? ...unless..."

"I can see that you're starting to get it." Rubel grinned.

"Unless they did so to find me...to find the rest of us..."

"Bravo Clare." Rubel said in a surprisingly cheery voice, even adding a little clap.

"But...why resurrect Teresa, why her? Why not someone else?" asked a bewildered Clare who began to succumb to inescapable fear at the thought of loosing Teresa again.

"Because there was no one else. The organization wanted to get rid of you guys so badly; they were willing to go to drastic measures to make sure it's done. Someone from within the organization had this crazy idea of reviving someone who was closely linked to one of you and they decided to go with it. It turns out that the only corpse in their possession was none other than Teresa of the Faint Smile. They knew that her highness would immediately try to escape and go looking for that little girl she saved all those years ago. As you can see, the plan turned out quite well…minus a few hiccups of course." Rubel said as he fixed his eyes on Priscilla.

"The organization is willing to put the people of Rabona in danger for the sake of getting rid of us...sounds typical."

"They don't appreciate the fact that this city forbids their warriors from entering it's walls, so I imagine that they don't care much for its wellbeing."

"I've heard enough, come Priscilla." Clare coldly brushed off, turning her back to her ex handler as she began to walk towards the edge of the enormous wall.

"You don't have much time Clare," Rubel hissed from behind in a sly tone. "I would hurry myself back to the others."

Giving Priscilla a gesture to follow, Clare leapt off the edge of the giant stonewall and back into the great city that it wrapped around so defensively. As the chilly nightly winds raced past her body, she couldn't help but worry about the grave situation she, and the rest of the ghosts were apparently in. After seven years of stealth, it appears that their enemy has finally caught up to them, and has the element of surprise, which was the very advantage Miria had focused her entire plans on. Not only that, but the organization was in possession of an enemy they had little knowledge about, Alicia and Beth and the so called 'yoki feeders'.

Of course, the thought that this was just a calculated deception by Rubel also crossed her mind, but as she thought deeper on it, there was little to no reason for him to do so. If what Audrey said was true, and Rubel was indeed secretly working against the Organization, then it would certainly be in his interest in doing whatever he can to keep the rebels alive.

_Perhaps, he is hoping that we eventually destroy the organization..._

_Rubel...I always knew there was something odd about him. Even among the creepiest of handlers, he was always in his own league in that department._

_I need to find Teresa...I hope she's all right._

As Clare leapt from building to building on her way towards the cathedral in the centre of the city, she looked over her shoulder to make sure that Priscilla was hot on her trail, and indeed she was. The awakened being followed her effortlessly, gracefully taking to the air without the faintest evidence of fatigue or strife on her thin body. Clare immediately returned her attention back to the front when their eyes met for a brief moment, resulting in an unattended awkwardness between the two. Even now, she still couldn't get over the fact that Priscilla was now considered an 'ally', and no longer her mortal enemy. For her, it felt as if this was all just a dream, an illusion, something not real. Even if this were the case, she wouldn't even want to wake up. Life without Teresa had been one of misery and despair, with the only form of comfort being her meeting with Raki just over seven years ago. However, like her meeting with Teresa, that happiness was short lived when she was separated from him by events in which she had little control over. But now, as if by a miracle, both of them had returned to her only recently. Was this another one of life's cruel jokes? Bringing back the people she cares about only to take them away from her? Was she to loose them both in an upcoming battle? Was she to choose who lives and dies? She tried to filter out those negative thoughts from her mind, but doing so proved to be completely impossible.

Life's nasty habit of snatching away people who are important to her was all because she was too weak.

Too weak to save Teresa...

Too weak to save Jean...

To weak to defeat Ophelia

Too weak...

Too weak...

It drove her mad.

She took another look over her shoulder to glance at Priscilla yet again, who this time, seemed completely oblivious to the stare she was receiving for a second time. Clare couldn't explain it, but there were some very strange thoughts going through her mind at that moment, and she wasn't sure if she should be having them or not. Priscilla was the very reason why she became a hybrid in the first place, and as a result of this, she had the power to save the life of a young boy from a terrible death by the hands of a yoma. Teresa had to die for her to even meet Raki in the first place.

Was it selfish to wish that Teresa had never been killed by the hands of Priscilla, and then not being there to save Raki later on in life?

"Is there something wrong?" Priscilla asked when she finally noticed that she was being stared at as the two continued to race from building to building under the moonlight.

"N...no, nothing."

"There is something strange about the way you look at me."

"Enough talk, let's just concentrate on getting back to the cathedral." Clare coldly brushed off.

A short moment later, the two had finally arrived at their destination, landing silently on the tranquil rooftop with no trace of any potential trouble about. Clare wasted no time in opening the roof hatch that lead to their base below, and made her way down in search for Teresa. She was relieved to see everyone unharmed, scattered around in their usual positions throughout the rather large main room.

"I hope there weren't any complications with Priscilla's retrieval?" The captain asked as she walked up to greet the new arrivals.

"Where's Teresa?" Clare ordered, completely ignoring what Miria had just said.

"Is there something wrong Clare?" Helen asked from Clare's right, holding a cup of finely brewed beer.

"Did she return yet?"

"No, not yet..." Miria answered, bewildered by Clare's strange behavior.

"What happened Clare?" Deneve said, standing up from the seat she sat against in the far corner of the room.

"I have to find Teresa, I have to..."

"Clare you're not making any sense!" Miria yelled out of frustration.

Committed to finding Teresa before it was too late, Clare stubbornly raced back towards the door she arrived from, passing by a baffled looking Priscilla in the process. As she was about to make her way back up the staircase that lead to the rooftop, she was stunned to see none other than Teresa making her way down at the same time.

"Teresa!" Clare yelled out of relief.

At a loss as to why Clare was acting so strange, Teresa replied with one of her brows raised: "I can see that you found Priscilla, is there something wrong?"

Now that Teresa had been found and accounted for, Clare came to the realization that it was now Raki who was not among them. She shot past Teresa and made her way to the rooftop, hoping that he would be there, but was disappointed when there was no sight of him anywhere. She desperately scanned the entire view of the city from the tall vantage point of the cathedrals rooftop, but was unsuccessful in spotting him.

Noticing that the others had followed her up the rooftop, and with her back turned to all of them, Clare asked: "Has anybody heard from Raki?"

"No, but Audrey just sort of left without saying a thing to us, we figured that she left to help Raki find Priscilla." Cynthia said.

"Clare tell us what's on your mind." Miria said in a worried tone.

Making her way towards her favorite spot on the edge of the rooftop, Clare took a large breath of the icy air that raced past her face as she calmly spoke:

"We are compromised. The Organization knows that we are here."

Gliding through the winds of Rabona, Raki was rapidly approaching the far western end of the city, towards the giant stone wall that separated civilization from the harshness of nature. He had searched every nook and cranny of every tower and tall building he had come across but with no success. He had wondered if either Clare or Teresa had already found her, but there was always that chance that they hadn't. Between the three of them, he had the best chance of finding Priscilla since he knew her even better than she knew herself, and that there was enough reason for him to continue his search for her. This wasn't the first time he had to go look for her, and he figured it probably won't be his last either. There was just one last place he didn't look, and that place was the enormous stone wall just ahead of him. Assuming she hadn't been found yet, that was where he would find her.

Leapfrogging the last few buildings that separated him from his destination, Raki's boots finally touched down on the cold stone walkway of the enormous wall where an amazing view of the great Western lands was there to greet him. Looking both ways, he saw no sign of any pesky guards, or Priscilla for that matter. He proceeded to follow the long, lonely walkway leading towards the northern end of the city, hoping that he would eventually be close enough to sense her distinct yoki signature.

_Where are you Priscilla?_

_Even after all these years, I still don't understand why you do this. Is it to reflect on your past life? The life you had before you awakened?_

_Why did you kiss me?_

_And Audrey...why did 'you' kiss me?...and...why did I kiss you back?_

_It's Clare I like..._

_Or is it?_

_Maybe my feelings towards Clare are just my childhood memories of her as a big sister-figure, and not actually love._

_Well not that kind of love._

_..._

_..._

_...Why can't I stop thinking about Audrey?_

_That smile she first gave me._

_Those tears that fell from her eyes._

_...The taste of her lips._

Raki almost fell over the edge of the wall from sheer surprise when he heard the unmistakable voice of Audrey calling his name from behind. He nervously turned around to see her standing before him as clear as day, with that gentle smile she always wore when their eyes happened to meet. He tried his best to calm down and regain his composure, but it was no use. He hoped that his nervousness wasn't too obvious, but he was afraid that his face was already a bright flush of red.

"Did I surprise you?" she asked while giving him an odd look, not entirely sure what was on his mind.

"Yeah, a little."

"Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine"

"No sign of Priscilla I see." she said, breaking eye contact as she walked towards the edge of the wall in view of the city.

"Audrey...can I ask you something?" Raki said rather nervously.

Not sure where he was going with this, she turned her body around to once again face him as she replied: "Of course."

"Why did you...you know...kiss me at the lake?"

He could see Audrey's face turn sour when he asked her that question, but he wasn't sure whether he went out of line or not. The last thing he wanted was to make her uncomfortable around him, and judging by her reaction, he feared that he already has. He was beginning to regret ever asking the question until he heard her response:

"I'm sorry about that, it was quite rude,"

"No it wasn't." Raki countered.

"I was clearly out of place," she continued, increasing the pace of her voice and sounding more and more nervous as she carried on: "I'm sorry, I didn't know what I was thinking."

"Don't say sorry..."

"I know that you have feelings for Clare..." she said so quickly that it was difficult to even understand due of her obvious nervousness, wildly flickering her gaze between the environment around her and Raki.

"Audrey..."

"It was selfish of me to do that."

"Audrey..." he repeated for a second time.

"Yes?" she said, putting an end to her mad fumbling of words while finally being able to maintain eye contact with him. It was clear by the look on her face that she was eagerly awaiting his next words with eyes of adoration.

Giving some thought to what he would say next, Raki continued:

"I don't think I have any feelings of that kind for Clare."

"What do you mean?" Audrey asked, looking completely gob smacked, and somewhat relieved by what she had just heard. A glimmer of hope could be seen in her eyes as she continued to stare deeply into his own, once again eagerly awaiting his next words.

"It's not Clare who I have feelings for."

"Not Clare? But didn't you tell me..."

"I know what I said," Raki interrupted while lowering his head towards the ground and bringing it back up shortly later: "But I was confused... I will always care about Clare, she saved my life a long time ago and I will never forget that, but I guess my feelings towards her were always platonic."

Raki could see that Audrey's lips were frozen solid from astonishment, looking as if she couldn't find the right words to respond to him or even having the ability to do so in he first place. That look of nervousness evident on her face from earlier was gone, and was replaced by a deeply intrigued stare instead.

"What are you trying to say?" She managed to say after a prolonged silence.

Caressing Audrey's hands in between his own, Raki took a step forward, forcing a blush from her as their faces came dangerously close to each other.

"I'm saying that the girl I like has long, loose blonde hair…is very well mannered…the prettiest ex warrior of the bunch and has the cutest little smile I have ever seen in my life."

He could see the sheer disbelief in her eyes as he edged his face ever closer to her own, with their lips eventually making contact as they shared their second kiss under the stars from on top of the giant stone wall. Her lips were no longer drowned in tears like last time, which allowed him to experience the full taste of that wonderful part of her body. He wanted the moment to last forever, for their bodies to melt into one another, but that fantasy of a thought ended as soon as their lips had parted.

He was surprised to not see a pleased look on her face, but a face of deep confusion instead. Before his eyes, she turned her back against him as she proceeded to make her way towards the edge of the wall until she stopped to a halt at the very end to gaze upon the green lands before her.

"What's wrong?" Raki asked in a bewildered tone, puzzled by Audrey's unexpected behavior.

"It's just that..." she answered after an awkward moment of prolonged silence: "I don't think I'm good enough for anyone. My only purpose in life was to slay yoma, but now that I've left the Organization, there is nothing left for me. The only reason why I continued on living was to help you find Clare, and now even that has been fulfilled."

"Then why didn't you just run away? Why chase me all the way here?" Raki replied cheekily.

"I'm not sure..."

"You know...if you did run away...I would have come looking for you."

"Really?" she said with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"Yes, really."

"Raki...Nobody's ever made me feel this way...I'm not sure why, but I like being around you."

To Audey's surprise, Raki gently grabbed her right hand and placed it flat against her chest until she could feel the beat of her own heart.

"That's why'" He replied while staring into her eyes: "The rapid beat of your heart is due to the love you feel for another person."

"You think I can love?" she asked with her eyes widened in anticipation for his answer.

"Of course you can, you're only human after all."

Wrapping their arms around each other, the two held in a tight embrace, enjoying the warmness of the other's body and the calming silence of the night that surrounded them. Neither had experienced anything like this before, nor had they realized just how much they craved the affection of the other. This was the one moment where they temporarily forgot all about the chaos in their lives, and finally had a chance succumb to their emotions, which was a great relief to them both.

"Raki... Do you feel that?" Audrey said in alarm, breaking off the embrace as she frantically shook her head from side to side in search for something.

"No, what do you feel?"

Audrey directed her silver eyes towards the west, looking out into the distance with a look of concern evident on her usually calm face. He could see her eyes widen from sheer terror as she fixed her gaze on something out there, pronging him to do the same. His heart skipped a beat when he saw what looked like a horde of humanoid creatures creeping their way towards the city's walls. There were too many to count, and it was far too dark even for hybrid eyes to have a good look at them. Even with all this, the both of them immediately realized that these were no ordinary yoma, or awakened beings for that matter.

But far worse than either one.

"We need to go warn the others now!" Raki yelled, trying to knock Audrey out of her trance of curiosity.

"What are those things?" she muttered under her own breath.

"Who cares? We got to go warn Clare and the others!"

i'm not too sure if some guys will like this chapter, because of all the romance and all. I'm a guy, and i have to admit i am a bit of a sucker when it comes to love, so i didnt think it was that bad. I wanted to develop Audrey and Raki's relationship from a while back, and well, this is finally it.

**Your reviews will only give me more motivation to write, which ultimately means faster updates.**


	37. Chapter 37

The very blood ran cold of every ghost that listened to the painstaking words that came out of Clare's mouth. Each one of those words felt like a stake to the heart, with each consecutive word pushing it deeper and deeper into the wound. As Clare expected, it was crushing for all her comrades to understand that their precious 'ghosts' status was no longer, and instead, they were now directly targeted by their formidable enemy. The one advantage that had given them hope these past seven years was snatched from them, and by the look on each of their faces, it was obvious that morale was slipping fast.

Clare could tell that it was her captain, Miria, who took the news particularity badly, and it was understandable. She was the leader of the rebellion, and all her carefully laid plans had heavily relied on that stealth advantage. Instead of the usual confidence on her face, there was one of doubt, and a closer look into her eyes even showed evidence of what was unmistakably fear. This was particularly difficult for Clare to see because out of all of them, it was Miria who kept group motivation up to a maximum.

"Clare, what are you saying?" asked Teresa whose face was twisted with confusion.

"They only used you as a means to find us..."Clare answered in a sorrowful tone.

It was at that moment when Clare noticed that dreaded look of doubt on Teresa's face, and even a trace of fear evident in those mystifying silver eyes of hers. The wavy haired warrior stood in silence with her face lowered towards the ground, looking too distraught to even notice that all attention has been pointed towards her. It was painful for Clare to see Teresa in such a broken state yet again, the very individual who in her mind, was the very definition of confidence, elegance and power. As Clare stared into those silver eyes, a striking thought crossed her mind. She didn't become a hybrid solely to take revenge on Priscilla. In fact, she became a hybrid to subconsciously try and change herself into her idol, into Teresa. She admired Teresa so greatly, and missed her so desperately, that she was willing to do anything to bring her back, even if that meant changing the very person who she was in order to turn herself into a mirror image of Teresa.

"Clare..." Teresa said in a gloomy tone, breaking the shorthaired warrior's trail of thought: "You said that these things are after me...So I want you and everyone else to make a break for it and leave me behind."

Unable to believe what she had heard, Clare frantically responded: "No way! I'll never leave you behind! Don't you ever think like that!"

"Clare..."

Frustrated by Teresa's newfound attitude, Clare hastily marched up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, pronging the two to look directly into each other's eyes from the small distance separating them.

"I don't care who we're up against, or what the odds are. I will always be there when you need me."

Teresa was astounded to find herself in a position where she was at a total loss for words. She didn't fully understand it, but there was something about what Clare had said that sent a massive wave of relief through her troubled mind, as if a large weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

Could it be that she was afraid?

Afraid to be beaten once again?

Afraid to die?

She immediately tried to dismiss the very idea of 'Teresa of the Faint Smile' being afraid, but as hard as she tried, her mind kept drifting back towards it. It was an inescapable thought, one that could explain the very nature of her strange behavior lately. She always thought that having friends and being in need of help was an attribute of a weakling, something for the low ranking warriors to rely on, but this was the very thing that gave her strength in the last couple of days.

"But Cla..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Teresa was surprised to feel the tips of Clare's fingers gently stroke the surface of her right cheek, involuntarily flooding her face with a bright flush of red.

"I can see it in your eyes Teresa, you are terrified," Clare replied tenderly with a warm smile planted on her lips: "But you don't have to fight alone anymore, we won't let anything happen to you...I won't let anything happen to you."

Struck by this unexpected affection, Teresa once again found herself in a position where she was completely speechless and unable to provide a response of any kind. This was the second time in the past couple of days that this had happened to her, and only now did she realize just how much she had been lying to herself. She was afraid, and as difficult as it was for her to admit, reassurance was exactly what she needed at this moment in time. Her foolish pride begged her to put on a brave face and hide all her insecurities just as she had been doing for most of her life, but she just didn't have the strength to do so anymore.

Ending her endless parade of thoughts, Teresa couldn't help but beam a genuine smile of gratitude as she looked into Clare's gleaming eyes.

"Thank you Clare..."

Noticing that Clare and Teresa's moment was over, Miria wasted no time in calling for the attention of the entire group that was gathered on the cathedral's chilly rooftop. She knew that it was absolutely crucial to keep group morale as high as possible, but this was a difficult thing for her to maintain because of the current situation. It was always a severe disadvantage to be taken by surprise by the enemy, but there was no doubt in her mind that her group was ready for anything that the organization throws at them. On top of the seven years of training they each had, Miria also took relief of the fact that she had Riful and even Priscilla on her side, something which she doubt the organization would know about.

The captain put on a serious face as she turned her attention to the blind warrior among them:

"Galatea, you've seen Alicia and Beth in combat before. How do they compare in strength compared to the awakened beings that are with us currently?"

"In terms of power, I believe they are superior to Dauf, but probably on the same level as Riful. However," Miria was taken aback when the blind warrior paused for a moment with a smirk on her face, before she continued in an overly confident voice: "However, they are nowhere near as powerful as the one horned beast."

Miria could tell that Galatea's words were a boost of confidence to most of her group, but she wasn't naïve enough to believe that the upcoming battle would be as simple as it seemed. What really bothered her was the unknown enemy, the 'yoki feeders'. She knew the organization well enough to know that they wouldn't call an attack unless they were one hundred percent confident that the battle would end in their favor. Using this logic, then it would be appropriate to presume that the organization would send more of these creatures than would probably be needed in order to achieve this guaranteed victory. Assuming that these creatures were comparable in power to the abyssal feeders, then by Miria's calculations, it would be likely that Teresa would be facing tens of thousands of these things if not more, a number which would without a doubt overwhelm the former number one.

The spiky haired warrior took a moment to glance upon the strongest member of their group, the awakened being Priscilla. She didn't look too impressive on the outside, but her monstrous strength and speed was undeniable. Miria knew that Priscilla would play an important role in the upcoming battle, certainly tipping the result of the battle in their favor, but she wasn't prepared to naively declare victory just yet. It could be possible that she grossly underestimated the sheer number of these 'yoki feeders', and there could in fact be enough of them to not only destroy Teresa, but possibly Priscilla as well. She figured that this scenario was quite unlikely, but it's still a possibility and it would be unwise to rule it out.

"You do not need to worry, I will destroy all that is in our way," A calm looking Priscilla announced as the awakened being stood on the far eastern edge of the cathedral's roof, looking out to the distance.

"It's a good thing that you're confident Priscilla, but never make the mistake of underestimating the enemy." Miria replied.

It was at that moment when Clare noticed two small figures towards the Western side of the city madly dashing their way over the various rooftops to get to the centre of the city. After squinting her eyes to have a better look at them, Clare was thrilled when she identified one of them as Raki, but that thrill quickly died down when she noticed that there was something strange about the way they moved. It was as if they were running away from something, or someone, and as the distance between them was getting smaller, the look of fear on their faced became more and more evident.

As the two of them leaped over the last few remaining buildings to get to the cathedral, all became silent among the ghosts as they braced themselves for whatever grave news they brought with them. Arriving breathless in front of everyone, a look of terror could clearly be seen in the eyes of them both, making it clear to everyone that the news was far worse than they had thought.

"Clare we have a serious problem!" Raki stormed, barely able to maintain a proper composure due to the way he was desperately gasping for breath.

"What did you see Raki?"

"A whole army, of these things…I don't know what they are." He responded, still trying to catch his breath.

"Alicia and Beth are also drawing near…" Galatea announced with her eyelids closed and face tightly tensed up, making it obvious that she was in a trance of careful concentration: "There…there is some other strange yoki…it's coming from all directions."

"Must be from the feeders." Miria added.

"Feeders? You mean abyssal feeders?" Audrey asked out of intense curiosity.

"Not exactly. Clare was recently approached by Rubel who informed her that these are a special type of feeder that hunt after a certain yoki signature. Apparently these ones are after Teresa's yoki signature."

"But you'd know all about them wouldn't you?" Teresa sneered in a hostile tone as she began to march towards Audrey in a threatening manner.

"Teresa…I don't know what you're talking about."

"I can't believe I didn't see it before," Teresa continued as she stopped in front of Audrey and pushed her face to within an inch of the nervous warrior's: "You're nothing but a filthy rat whispering things to the enemy behind our backs."

It was obvious that Audrey was too frightened to respond to the greater power that stood so menacingly in front of her, but she stubbornly stood her ground nevertheless.

"T…Teresa." Audrey stuttered before being cut off by the wavy haired warrior:

"You and Rubel had this all planned out didn't you?"

"I had nothing to do with..." Audrey tried to say but was interrupted once again:

"Remember what I said to you when you freed me? I said that 'I hope you understand the consequences'."

"What are you saying?"

"You're about to find out what those consequences are."

Noticing that Teresa had intentions on hurting Audrey, Raki immediately came to her defense by pushing himself in between the two warriors, causing Teresa to take a step backwards in response. As Raki stood defensively in front of Audrey, he couldn't help but notice the tremendous look of surprise on the face of every member in the rebellion, with the most prevalent being Teresa's and Clare's. He had hoped that Teresa wouldn't have gone that far, but he just couldn't stand by and allow her to hurt Audrey.

"Raki…what are you doing?" Clare asked with a dumbfounded look on her face, but that face soon turned into one of mistrust as she set her sight upon the long haired warrior that stood timidly behind him.

"I'm sorry, but I just couldn't stand by and let Teresa murder Audrey." He said in the bravest voice he could muster, still defiantly standing in between the two warriors.

"Why do you defend her Raki? What is she to you?" Teresa asked suspiciously with one of her eyebrows raised.

"She's…she's…."

"Don't tell me…" Teresa said before pausing a moment to release a short sigh: "Please don't tell me you feel something for her."

"Ummm, err…" Raki responded in his usual nervousness when asked such a question, taking the time to glance at Clare and noticing a look of intense revelation on her face. Her facial expression was a strange one indeed, and he couldn't quite pin point what she felt exactly at that moment. Knowing Clare, it was impossible to read her thoughts from the outside, but it looked as if she was caught in deep surprise, discomfort and even what he thought could be jealousy.

"Such a young, naïve boy you are," Teresa responded, breaking the brief moment of silence from a moment ago: "You don't actually believe that a hybrid like us can love somebody else in that way do you?"

"Teresa," Clare said from out of the blue as she began to walk closer towards the two people whom she cared for the most: "You don't mean that…don't be so quick to throw away our humanity."

"Raki…you have to believe me…I didn't betray you." He could hear the softness of Audrey's voice whisper in his ear.

Turning around to face her, and with a smile on his lips, Raki answered: "I believe you Audrey."

"But that isn't all we have to worry about Raki," Clare said abruptly, knowing that there wasn't any time to waste: "The feeders are after Teresa, but the organization has also sent Alicia and Beth to take care of us."

"At least it appears the organization doesn't know about Riful, Dauf and Priscilla, otherwise they wouldn't bother sending those two." Audrey said, gaining enough courage to finally come out from behind Raki.

"Yes, lets hope they don't know" The captain responded.

"We must leave the city and fight the feeders on open ground!" Tabitha said worriedly.

"There is no point…" Galatea answered in a crystal clear voice: "They coming from all directions. There is no escape."

"Dam the organization!" Helen yelled in a furious tone, slamming a fist into her palm: "They always find a way to screw us over! First with Pieta and now this!"

The captain put on a serious facade as she turned her attention to the group that was assembled before her. She scanned each and every face until her eyes fell upon an anxious looking Clarice and the confused Miata. It was clear that the situation was becoming far too dangerous to involve a young child and a lesser-powered former warrior, and she wasn't willing to put both their lives in danger in the upcoming battle.

"Clarice, go with Miata and tell father Vincent and everyone to take shelter in the cathedral's cellars. Stay in there with them, hopefully you'll all be safe."

Giving a gesture that she understood the command, Clarice frantically led the confused looking Miata back down the staircase to warn the others as Miria told her.

As the two disappeared from sight, Miria then took the time to focus her attention on to the blind warrior among them.

"Galatea…You don't have to fight if you think you're unfit for the task."

"I may be blind, but I can still put up a hell of a fight." She replied boldly.

Understanding Galatea's wish to fight among them, the captain then returned her attention back to the remaining group that was assembled before her. She looked into the eyes of each and every ghost, and even took the time to glance at the awakened beings within the party, Priscilla, Riful and Dauf. She knew that if they were to survive this upcoming battle, then it would be essential that they all put aside their differences and work together.

"Why don't we let Teresa lead the feeders away from us!" Riful whined childishly: "It would be a worthy sacrifice for the sake of us all!"

"We are not going to let Teresa die." Clare snapped, looking extremely displeased that Riful even dared to mention such an idea in front of her.

After hearing this, Riful's childlike nature immediately ended as she transformed her usual playful looking face into one of annoyance and disappointment. She gave Teresa an unfriendly stare as she crossed her arms in defiance, sending a clear message that she was extremely unsatisfied with what she had just heard.

"They are getting closer." Galatea suddenly alerted.

"I can see them…" Priscilla shortly followed, pronging the rest to look in the same eastern direction as her, desperately scanning the space for any signs of these creatures.

The distance to the end of the city was enormous, and even from this vantage point; it would be difficult to distinguish a human from the creature Priscilla claimed to see. However, It didn't take long for the entire party to make out a tiny blue spec from on top the giant wall that encased the great city. This blue spec was without a doubt one of the creatures that Clare spoke of, as it proved to move in a very similar manner to the abyssal feeders. It didn't just simply take the stairs that lead from the top of the wall to the streets below, instead, it seemed to crawl it's way down the steep wall in a matter similar to a spider.

Before long, a blue tidal wave composed of what seemed like thousands of these creatures came into view, rapidly creeping their way towards the centre of the city. The ghosts were horror struck when this wave of creatures could be seen in all directions, no matter which way they looked. They kept hoping that they would see an end to this colossal army, but there was no such end in sight. The sheer number of these things was utterly unbelievable, easily reaching tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands. Neither one of them have ever seen an army of this magnitude before, threatening to destroy whatever was left of the morale they tried so hard to maintain.

"Alicia and Beth are drawing near!" Galatea yelled, breaking the group silence caused by the arrival of the yoki feeders.

"Galatea, do you have any idea which direction you expect them to come from?" Miria questioned.

"The yoki from all these feeders makes it impossible for me to pin point their exact position. Sorry, I can't tell you." she replied.

"What the hell? How are we supposed to fight those two and all these things at the same time?" Helen shouted out of desperation.

"What do we do Miria?" Tabitha said with a horrid look on her face.

At that moment, the entire group's attention was turned away from the incoming horde of beasts and on to a less than confident looking Miria. She stood in the middle of the party in silence, with her head lowered towards the ground, seemingly lost in her own maze of thoughts. It was difficult for the ghosts to see their once fearless leader broken before them, no longer radiating that overpowering confidence that they had relied upon for the past seven years.

Standing in the middle of the party with the gentle hands of the nightly breeze playing with her long spiky hair, a glimpse of hope could be seen as the captain raised her lowered head with a clear look of determination on her face.

"We have survived against all odds before…And we will do it again" She said in her usual overpowering voice, taking a short pause to look into the eyes of each and every one of her party: "And just like Pieta…I'm afraid this battle will not be without sacrifices."

"So what do you insist we do Miria?" Galatea asked.

Gripping her chin with her right hand, Miria spared a moment to glance upon the endless amass of yoki feeders that had already managed to make their way through one third of the city, bringing them close enough for her to obtain a proper visual. They looked very similar to the abyssal feeders they faced a few days ago, but had a much darker blue tint to them. They, however, moved in a very different manner. Instead of walking on their two feet like the abyssal feeders, these creatures moved in a manner very similar to a spider, using all four of their slightly extended limbs to climb over buildings and walls as was seen before.

After a few precious seconds of observing the creatures, and analyzing the way they moved, she began to notice that they seemed to crawl over the shorter buildings, but tended to go around the taller buildings of the city. It immediately dawned on her that exploiting this would be the key to their victory.

"We will need to form two groups, group one and group two. Since we don't know exactly when Alicia and Beth will attack, both groups will be doing the same thing and fending off the yoki feeders from the top of this cathedral. As soon as Alicia and Beth arrive, group two will immediately dispatch from this rooftop and combat them as far away from group one as possible. When Alicia and Beth have been dealt with by group two, then they will return back here, to the centre of the city and help group one destroy the feeders."

"Sounds logical, but where will group two do battle with Alicia and Beth and avoid the yoki feeders at the same time?" Deneve noted.

"Since we're standing on top of the Cathedral which is located in the middle of this city, we should have ample time to spot Alicia and Beth from whichever direction they come from. Now if you look carefully, you will notice that these creatures tend to avoid climbing over the taller buildings within this city,"

The captain then began to point to a nearby building located on the western side of the cathedral as she continued: "The rooftop of that building should be free from those creatures, and is close enough for group two to make a leap from here. Once there, group two can hop over the empty rooftops scattered throughout the city, using them as their battlefield to engage Alicia and Beth."

"What happens if we miss the rooftops and accidently fall to the streets?" Helen naively asked.

"If that happens, you'll obviously die you idiot." Deneve sneered.

"Do you want to try me!" Helen snapped back angrily, almost forgetting the graveness of the situation they were in.

"It's safe to assume that these creatures will not attack unintended targets unless those targets get in their way. So if a member of group two were to fall into the horde below, then yes, they would probably be slaughtered." Miria answered, taking a moment to nervously glance at the advancing yoki feeders that were edging ever closer.

"Miria, are you sure that group one will be able to hold out against the feeders on their own?" Galatea asked with a look of doubt evident on her face.

"Group one will have to consist of members who can destroy a large amount of the feeders in a short time, or risk being overwhelmed by their extraordinary numbers."

"Then in that case, I should be in group one as the quicksword would suit that role perfectly." Clare noted.

"Yes, however I fear that you won't be able to maintain that technique for very long Clare," Miria responded with an unconvinced expression: " The quicksword is lightning fast because you expend a lot of energy by awakening your dominant arm, but that comes at the price of using a lot of yoki. The windcutter is a far more efficient technique which doesn't use any yoki, but that might not be quick enough to hold them back."

"Then I'll alternate them efficiently." The shorthaired warrior responded.

"Nevertheless, you are a prime candidate for group one, so that is where you will be going."

With time running out, Miria gave one last glance at her party as she thought swiftly about the appropriate grouping. She wasn't completely sure whether she could trust the awakened beings in the group, but she knew there was no choice in the matter. The battle with Alicia and Beth will be a difficult one for sure, and she will definitely need the help of at least one of them if the battle is to end in their favor. As much as she didn't like the idea of putting Priscilla and Clare in the same group, it was absolutely vital that the strongest member of the party be placed within group one to fend off the yoki feeders. For the sake of her, and Teresa's life, Clare would have to put aside her hatred for Priscilla and learn to work with her if they are to survive the battle.

With Priscilla placed within group one, and group two still in need for at least one awakened being, it was now time to decide where to place the remaining two. Riful would be perfectly suited for the battle with Alicia and Beth, as she was made up of fleshy strips in her awakened form, which should make navigation over the empty rooftops a breeze for her. Dauf would also have to be placed within group two due to his ineffectiveness in fighting numerous smaller opponents, and also because his massive weight would most likely cause the cathedrals rooftop to collapse, a scenario which would end in utter disaster. Of course, being in group two, he could just as likely collapse the other buildings he sets foot on, but there weren't any other options in this moment in time.

Miria once again turned her attention outwards to the view of Rabona and was alarmed to see the feeders closing in fast, already managing to overtake about two thirds of the massive city. There wasn't much time left until they arrived at the cathedral, and the pressure was on for her to make the correct decisions quickly to ensure their survival.

Madly flickering her gaze between the three members of group one, Teresa, Priscilla and Clare, the captain was having trouble deciding whether it was worth adding more members or not. Not that she didn't care for Teresa's life, but the battle with Alicia and Beth was her number one priority, as those two were a threat to the entire party whereas the feeders were only targeting Teresa. If she were to add too many members into group one, then that would obviously mean that the strength of group two would be reduced, thus reducing the chances of defeating Alicia and Beth. If group two falls, then Alicia and Beth would immediately go after group one, who would already be neck deep in the yoki feeders. If that were to happen, then the entire rebellion would be wiped out.

"Priscilla, you will aid Teresa and Clare fending off the feeders. Everyone else is in group two." Miria announced after her moment of deep thought.

"Miria! You can't do this! Just the three of us?" Clare retorted furiously out of outrage.

"Clare, Miria is right," Teresa said in a surprisingly calm tone, even adding a weak smile as she added: "Your friends need all the help they can get against Alicia and Beth...I don't want you to feel as if you're obliged to help me. I couldn't possibly ask something like that from you."

Clare's face turned into a ghostly white the moment she heard this unexpected response from Teresa, standing in the middle of the group with her head lowered in silence. It was clear by the expression on her face that there were a million thoughts running through her mind, looking as if she was torn between Teresa and her friends. Upon hearing the dreaded sound of the feeders drawing nearer, Clare snapped out of her puzzled web of thoughts and returned eye contact upon the group. She frenziedly alternated her gaze between Teresa and everyone else, looking as if she was desperately trying to choose between the two. It wasn't long until she stopped this mad flickering and finally fixed her eyes upon her choice.

"I said that I'd always be there when you need me, and I keep my promises." Clare said to Teresa, sending a warm smile her way.

"Clare…It's not right for just you three to fight all these feeders, I'm going to help you." Raki said courageously.

"No, it's too dangerous Raki. Stay in group two. Miria is right, Alicia and Beth do take priority."

Before the young man even had the time to answer, the groups' attention was immediately shifted to the sound of flesh being violently torn apart with a shower of blood being sprayed in it's wake. Turning to the source of the sound, they could see Priscilla standing in her usual spot on the eastern edge of the rooftop holding the corpse of a yoki feeder by the throat, or whatever was left of it. The bottom half of the creature's body was completely decapitated, with a trail of guts hanging from its abdomen as the lifeless corpse was being suspended above the ground by the thin brown haired girl. Even with half it's body removed, the creature was almost as tall as Priscilla, with the bottom half of it's body hanging mere inches above the surface of the rooftop. It was unfortunate for the feeder that it happened to arrive before the rest of the pack, and thus, suffered a horrendous death as a consequence.

After curiously inspecting the feeder, Priscilla discarded the carcass off the edge of the building's rooftop and proceeded to shake the remainder of it's exotic blue blood off her right arm.

"They are not very strong." She said in her usual soft, emotionless voice.

"Everyone form a circle of defense!" Miria ordered as the colossal horde of yoki feeders began to swarm the few remaining streets that separated them from the cathedral.

Each member of the Rebellion did as their captain commanded, by forming the special defensive maneuver with Claymores raised and ready for battle. There was only half a minute at best before all hell would break loose, and each passing second felt longer than the last. For the ghosts, it felt as if they were back in Pieta, back in the battle that haunted their dreams for the past seven years. The tension was gaining as the distance between the feeders and them was getting smaller, but they continued to stand their ground defiantly.

As soon as the feeders approached the building to the west that Miria spoke of, the ghost held their breath as they awaited what would happen next. That building was the only one for quite some distance with the only realistic chance to remain above the sea of feeders, and if it were to be swallowed up like the others, they were as good as done for. A moment of panic ensued when the first batch of feeders actually began to crawl up the sides of the building, but that panic was short lived when it became apparent they weren't going to go all the way. It seemed that it just wasn't worth for them to climb all the way to the top, and for that, they were thankful.

"They sure have great timing…" Galatea said out of the blue.

"Spit it out Galatea! There's no time for riddles!" The captain snapped as she nervously eyed the incoming army.

"Alicia and Beth are in the city."

Through all this chaos around them, the ghosts used the last few seconds they had before the feeders arrived to scan their surroundings for the newcomers, and it wasn't long before something had caught their eyes. Towards the northern end of the city, two humanoid figures with long blonde hair and wearing specialized black armor raced their way towards the centre of the city, darting over the feeders below them almost as if they didn't exist. Even though the twins used the feeders' heads as stepping-stones as a means to get to the cathedral, it wasn't too surprising to see the creatures ignore them completely. The organization must have trained the creatures to take no notice of Alicia and Beth as a means to minimize conflict between the two, which would make it easier for them to complete their mission.

Realizing this could be the very last time they saw each other again, the members of group two turned to face Clare before their departure from the rooftop.

"Clare, we'll be right back as soon as we take care of Alicia and Beth!" Helen said in the bravest voice she could muster, trying her best to hide the grim look on her face.

"Yeah and don't you dare die on us." Deneve said shortly after.

"Clare…Priscilla…Teresa, please, stay safe. We won't be long." Raki finished.

"There's no time! Move out now!" Miria roared through the deafening noise of thousands of yoki feeders that began to climb up the sides of the Cathedral.

Taking one last glimpse at the comrades they were about to leave behind, the members of group two took to the air and landed on the safety of the nearby building towards the west of the Cathedral.

Clare could only watch as her friends leapfrogged over the few remaining feeder-free rooftops as they headed towards the northern end of the city to intercept the advancing Alicia and Beth. Deep in her mind, she knew that Miria had made the right decision, but she still wished that there were more to help her and Teresa fend of these creatures. She knew that if the entire rebellion were focused on defending Teresa from the feeders, then it would be next to impossible to combat Alicia and Beth at the same time. Miria's philosophy of 'the lives of many outweigh the lives of few." was the correct one indeed.

The remaining three members of the Rebellion, Teresa, Clare and the awakened being Priscilla, stood next to one another from the top of the Cathedral's rooftop as they anticipated the arrival of the incoming horde. The rooftop was built in such a way, that the highest point, or the summit, was actually the flattest part of the entire surface. It was quite similar to a hill, where the crest was rather flat, but the sides getting increasingly steeper as one would go down towards the bottom. This unique architecture made the top of the cathedral the ideal place strategically to fend of a large amount of weaker enemies, as the steep sides would serve as a bottleneck by reducing the enemy's mobility.

"There sure is a lot of them," Teresa said as she turned to face a worried looking Clare, letting out another one of her weak smiles as she continued: "But don't worry, it's nothing I can't handle."

Clare had heard that one from Teresa before and wasn't convinced by her bluff. She could see the look of uncertainty on the wavy haired warriors face, a similar one she had when she fought Priscilla only a couple of days ago. As the first batch of feeders made their way to the rooftop, Clare took her eyes off Teresa and set them upon the awakened being that stood silently on her left side. Priscilla didn't seem at all bothered by the fact that in a matter of seconds, they were about to be engulfed by hundreds of thousands of enemies. She just stood there casually with her face raised up to the sky, looking more interested in the formation of the clouds than the battle ahead.

That relaxed, almost careless look on her face made it clear that she didn't take the upcoming fight seriously, or even was aware of it at all. She seemed to be lost in her own little world, and Clare couldn't even guess, nor did she want to know, what Priscilla was thinking at that moment in time.

It infuriated Clare to see Priscilla so calm and composed while Teresa and herself were left in fear and trepidation...

It infuriated her that Priscilla didn't seem to realize the severity of the situation, or just simply didn't care...

But most of all, it infuriated her how her entire life was centered around Priscilla's actions.

And this time was no different.

The desperation within Clare had finally reached a breaking point. She realized that her hatred for Priscilla was completely irrelevant during such a desperate situation, and whether she liked it or not, the fact of the matter was that Priscilla was the key to their survival. With only a few seconds before the feeders approached them, Clare felt a glimmer of hope when the awakened being finally seemed to snap out of her trance and make eye contact with her. That emotionless look on her face vanished in an instant as soon as their eyes met, and quickly replaced with one of what seemed to be one of great concern.

"Priscilla…"Clare sobbed quietly as she raised her claymore in preparation for the incoming horde: "Please…please protect Teresa…"

The look in Priscilla's eyes told her that the awakened being had gotten the message, but time had already ran out. Immediately returning her sight back upon the horde, Clare awakened the dormant yoki cells within her right arm and unleashed the might of the quicksword upon the yoki feeders. The dazing whirlwind tore through the great wall of flesh and bone with ease, spilling an array of blood and guts far and wide. Priscilla was right when she said that these creatures weren't very powerful, but what they don't have in strength and agility, they easily make up for in numbers. On an individual level, they were very similar to the abyssal feeders, same size, height, even weight, but their overall combat statistics was quite inferior.

While still maintaining her quicksword technique, Clare took a moment to glance at the status of her party, and was pleased with what she saw. Despite the fact that she was in her human form, Priscilla had no trouble holding off the countless numbers of enemies with a volley of tentacles that spawned from her body. Those razor sharp weapons of hers shredded through an impressive amount of enemies, making the quicksword seem like Childs play in comparison. Teresa also seemed to hold her own as well, effortlessly slicing and dicing whichever unfortunate feeder got in the way of her powerful strikes. The unmatched fluidity and grace of Teresa's swordplay, combined with her incredible agility, made it clear that no feeder would get past her any time soon.

The battle had just begun, and already Clare was struggling to maintain control her awakened arm. Never before had she used the quicksword for such an extended period of time, and it was taking a toll on her both physically and mentally. She could feel the awakened cells in her right arm desperately trying to spread their way to her torso, but she used every ounce of energy within her to hold them back. As the seconds went by, it was getting increasingly more and more difficult to control the direction of the swift strikes of the powerful technique.

Realizing that maintaining the quicksword was no longer sustainable, Clare hastily returned her dominant arm back to normal and unleashed a windcutter in it's place. While it was a great relief to no longer expend so much energy, the difference between the two techniques was immediately noticeable. Instead of slicing up the yoki feeders instantly, the visibly slower attacks of the windcutter struggled to keep up with the enormous demand of enemies. It was fortunate for Clare that the windcutter only just managed to destroy the first row of feeders before the ones behind them took their place, making this technique maintainable for now. If the windcutter was only a fraction of a second slower, then the second row of feeders would have managed to make it slightly further than the one in front of them, which would obviously mean that the horde would eventually get close enough to attack her.

However, as time passed by, Clare noticed that each feeder seemed to different vastly, with some more powerful than others. Up to now, each row of the creatures consisted of a decent mix of different power levels, but there was a chance that at any moment, there could be a row consisting entirely of the more powerful ones. If this were to happen, Clare would be forced to abandon her windcutter and rely on the lightning fast strikes of the quicksword to mow them down.

Taking the time to look over her shoulder to check the standing of the party for a second time, Clare was comforted to see the two doing far better than herself. The wavy haired warrior was doing so well in fact, that she even had the time to glance at Clare for a moment while effortlessly slicing up feeder after feeder before her. Priscilla was in a similar situation as well, still standing casually in her original spot mowing down the same impressive amount of them with unprecedented ease.

Realizing that it was vital to put her full concentration into her technique, Clare returned her attention to the wall of flesh in front of her and was alarmed to see the distance between her and the feeders noticeably smaller. It became clear that the brief moment she took to glance at her comrades was enough to reduce the effectiveness of her windcutter by a noticeable margin. Taking in a large breath of the foul air around her, Clare once again burrowed the power of the yoma cells within her right arm, forcing them to awaken as she let loose another quicksword upon her foes. It didn't take long for the whirlwind of death to push the barrage of feeders back to their original position, but that came at the cost of a lot of the remainder of Clare's stamina.

With the feeders now an acceptable distance away, Clare relieved the power of the yoma cells and replaced it with the lesser-powered technique. Yet again, the difference in power was immediately noticeable as the slower attacks of the windcutter struggled to keep the massive horde at bay. As the fight persisted, Clare began to notice that her attacks were becoming increasingly sluggish, forcing her to rely more and more on the far stronger, yet less efficient quicksword.

It came faster than expected, but the dreaded thought that was always on the back of Clare's mind had finally become a reality. It had reached the point where it was getting physically too exhausting to keep the horde at bay, even struggling to maintain the resourceful attacks of the windcutter. As her muscles ached under the enormous weight of her Claymore, it became painfully obvious that Miria's concerns about her stamina were right. Never before was she required to accelerate her blade at these speeds for such an extended period of time, and the effects on her body as a result were far worst than she anticipated.

Realizing that she just couldn't go on any longer, Clare hysterically turned her attention behind herself to warm Teresa and Priscilla of her much needed departure. She didn't want to abandon Teresa, but there was no choice in the matter. Her usefulness had reached its end, and the only thing she could do at this point was pray that Teresa and Priscilla could hold out on their own.

"Teresa I can't keep this up. I'm sorry but I'll swear I'll be right back!" She desperately yelled through the deafening sound of thousands of yoki feeders roaring in unison.

"Go! Get out of here!" the wavy haired warrior replied back, with the sound of her voice barely making it into Clare's ears.

Taking one last breath of the foul air around her, Clare used the last of her remaining stamina to take to their air, leaving behind the colossal horde feeders and falling towards the safety of the empty rooftop near the cathedral. As her boots touched the surface, Clare's feet immediately gave in as she collapsed to her knees from sheer exhaustion. Her entire body shook hysterically with cold sweat running down the contours of her face as she struggled to catch her breath.

After taking some much needed time to recover, Clare managed to get to her feet as she took a moment to scan her surroundings. She was utterly horrified to see the entirety of Rabona completely flooded in a sea of feeders, with only the tips of a few buildings visible in the distance. She would have thought that after spending that entire time killing thousands of these creatures, an ending to their colossal army would be near, but there was no such end in sight. They stretched as far as a hybrid eye could see, with more and more pouring in over the city gates like a streaming torrent of water that gushed out from a busted dam.

Setting her sight upon the feeder infested rooftop of the cathedral, Clare tried her best to spot traces of her comrades among them, but was left disappointed. Teresa and Priscilla were completely buried under the enormous pile of creatures, making it completely impossible to know from the outside whether they were coping or not. With each passing second crucial, she turned her attention towards the northern end of the city where she could see the members of group two doing battle with Alicia and Beth, and began to madly bolt towards them.

Leaping from rooftop to rooftop with the chilly winds blowing against her body, Clare could see the streets below her completely swamped by feeders, madly crawling over each other like brainless animals that raced towards the promise of a meal. Every glance down there was a reminder of how desperate the situation was, and how every passing feeder could potentially be the one that would sink their claws into Teresa.

As she soared towards the north, Clare's thoughts were brought to an abrupt end when she felt something wrap tightly around her right ankle, stopping her to a standstill and causing her to be suspended in the air. Dangling upside-down above the feeder flooded streets below, Clare began to frantically scan the area around her, desperately trying to figure out what was going on, and it wasn't long until she found out either. As soon as she set her eyes upon the unmistakable mesh of fleshy strips before her, there was no doubt in her mind that this was the abyssal one, Riful's doing.

"Riful! What the hell are you doing!" Clare yelled furiously from the top of her lungs, unable to comprehend Riful's sudden strange behavior.

"Please forgive me Clare," The abyssal one responded as she moved her massive body closer towards the helpless shorthaired warrior: "This is the only way it can be done."

"What are you talking about?"

"You will feel much better after this."

"After wha…"

Before she had time to finish, Clare found herself screaming from intense pain as one of Riful's razor sharp strips penetrated through her right shoulder, causing a pool of blood to gush out from the open wound.

"I know it hurts but please bear with me." Riful said with a genuine look of concern on her face.

"R…Riful, let go of me now!" Clare roared with anger.

"You escaped from me once before Clare, but that's not going to happen again. Do you remember how you made me tell you everything I knew about Alicia, Beth, Isley and Priscilla? In exchange, you told me that you would consider joining me, but you fled along with the others. This pains me more than you can imagine Clare, but you give me no choice." Riful added as she impaled Clare with yet another razor sharp fleshy strip, causing another yell of pain from the shorthaired warrior.

"Why are you doing this?" Clare groaned hopelessly as a stream of blood run down the side of her face.

"I'm doing this to help you!" Riful screeched out of excitement for a moment before returning her tone to normal: "If you don't awaken soon, you'll be riddles with holes and die from blood loss."

"Riful…you truly are insane…"

"Hey be careful Clare, saying things like that can affect our friendship."

"Friendship?" Clare questioned irritatedly, completely disgusted with what she had just heard.

"I wanted to help you for a while, but because of that annoying Teresa I never had the chance to do so until now."

"Teresa…I should have listened to her…" Clare mumbled depressively as she continued to lay suspended in the air by Riful, with a dozen wounds in her chest.

"I know that you don't understand now, but you will thank me when you awaken." The abyssal one said as she let out a smile.

Just when Clare was about to give up on all hope, she was astounded to see the shadow of a blade appear from out of the blue, slicing off the strip that held her airborne and causing her body to began falling towards the streets below. With mere meters separating her from a guaranteed death in the pool of feeders, she felt a pair of arms swap themselves around her body, breaking her fall and tossing her towards the safety of an empty rooftop.

"Are you alright Clare?" She heard the sound of a female voice echo into her ears, but due to the trauma she had suffered earlier, it was far too distorted to make out the owner.

Laying face down against the surface of a cold-tiled roof, Clare somehow managed to get to her knees as she turned to face her rescuer.

"Are you alright?" Audrey repeated, with a deep look of concern on her face.

"I'll live…" Was Clare's reply as she frantically scanned around herself for any signs of Riful, eventually spotting the large awakened being in combat with an unknown entity a small distance away.

"Who's that fighting Riful? Is it Miria?"

"No Clare, Miria and the others are busy with Alicia and Beth. It's Raki." Audrey replied worriedly.

"No way! Tell him to back off!" Clare yelled in horror.

"I need to go help him as well, stay here."

As the former number three was about to take to the sky and join the battle ahead, she was immediately stopped by the arrival of Dauf who had just landed his massive body on the opposite end of the rooftop, almost destroying the building entirely. The two were left wide-eyed as the hulking awakened being began to move towards them like a gorilla, using one of his free hands to hold on to the crest of the rooftop so he wouldn't slip and fall to the streets below.

"Don't you even think about attacking Riful!" he groaned furiously.

It was at that moment when Clare noticed Audrey giving her a quick glance with those frightened eyes. The glance was only for a brief moment, but it was long enough for Clare to make out what the warrior was thinking. There was a battle of thoughts going on within Audrey's mind, with flashes of evil thoughts definitely among them. Clare knew that the former number three was seriously considering abandoning her to her death, and after all, what was she to Audrey? Why would Audrey even bother to save her? She was just a threat to her relationship to Raki. It would be so easy for Audrey to just let Dauf kill her, and who would ever find out? That way, she could have Raki all to herself.

It seemed like an eternity when the longhaired warrior finally seemed to make up her mind as she quickly bent over and threw Clare over the safety of her shoulders as she spoke:

"Your friends saved me from Riful once before, and even though I said that our debt has been settled, it's clear now that I still owe you.

"And why is that?" Clare answered in a confused tone.

"Because you saved Raki, the man who made me feel human again."

As she finished her sentence, Audrey immediately leapt out of the way of one of Dauf's giant metallic rods that raced towards them, destroying a large section of the already damaged building. As the two flew through the air, Clare had a quick glimpse at Raki's battle with Riful and was overwhelmingly relieved to see him alive, hysterically dodging attack after attack the abyssal one threw at him.

Landing on the safety of a nearby-undamaged building, Audrey hastily removed Clare from her shoulder and placing her on the tiled rooftop as she raised her claymore in a defensive position. She gave Raki a worried glance, then immediately set her sight back upon the male awakened being as soon as she noticed half a dozen more of his large iron rods heading towards them. Borrowing the power of her yoma cells, Audrey's eyes turned to a bright gold as she used her gentle sword technique to deflect all but one of the massive objects, with the last one smashing into her with an enormous impact, ramming her body against the side of a large brick chimney behind her. Lying helplessly only a few meters away, Clare was dismayed to see Audrey struggling to recover from the massive blow as yet another dozen raced their way towards them, threatening to finish to fight.

Clare held her breath as the rods bulleted towards them, but was taken aback when those accursed fleshy strips of Riful's created a protective wall in front of them, stopping the objects in their tracks. Looking to her side, she could see Riful giving Dauf a furious stare as the abyssal one spoke:

"Dauf what do you think you're doing?"

"I was just…" the massive monster stuttered.

"Don't kill them you stupid man."

"I wasn't going to…"

Giving a massive sigh, Riful began to scan her surroundings: "Now where is that annoying boy?"

Unable to locate him, the abyssal one then edged closer towards a shaken Audrey and Clare with a pleased smile on her lips as she added: "Now, where were we?"

As she edged her fleshy strips towards Clare once more, they were instantly sliced off by the quick workings of a blade that seemed to come from nowhere. Before Clare's eyes, there stood Raki, as solid as a statue as she stood defensively in front of her, eyeing Riful with furiosity.

"Don't you dare hurt them!" She could hear him yell at the awakened being.

"Clare you really do have annoying friends…" Riful sighed once more as she implied a face palm.

"We could use your help against Alicia and Beth! Why are you betraying us like this!"

"Betraying? I'm not betraying anyone," she replied while retracting her damaged limbs: "I'm merely trying to do her a favor."

"Well it's a favor she doesn't want!"

"Look boy, I don't want to kill you, so please, step out of my way."

"No way!" he yelled back defiantly.

"Fine then, you wish to die?"

"Of course not, I wish to save my friends!"

"Very well then, you can only blame yourself for what's about to happen next."

The awakened being began to lift her massive wire-mesh body upwards towards the sky as she pointed a countless number of those razor sharp strips towards Raki. Clare could only watch in sheer disbelief as those spears began to race towards him, threatening to destroy him in an instant. During the last possible moment, she closed her eyes, unable to watch the terrible massacre that was about to take place before her. Expecting to hear the sound of his voice screeching in pain, Clare was beyond bewildered to hear an entirely different sound altogether.

Opening her eyes, she was relieved to be greeted with a shaken, yet unhurt Raki standing before her, and a gob smacked looking Riful. Upon closer inspection, Clare had noticed that the awakened being's strips had been sliced clean off by some unknown entity, knowing for sure that it wasn't Raki or Audrey.

"What is she doing here?" Riful yelled in a fearful tone as she turned to defend herself from yet another attack from the newcomer.

It soon became apparent that the strange entity was none other than the organization's current number one, Alicia. The humanoid-sized awakened being was dwarfed by Riful's massive figure, but her incredible agility easily made up for that shortcoming. Her body resembled a humanoid somewhat, except she had half a dozen large blade appendages on her arms, and many other smaller ones all over her body, especially her head and neck. Her agility was incredible, effortlessly dodging the deadly spears Riful threw at her, and slicing the ones she couldn't apart. Even though Alicia was an awakened being, she still wore the black uniform that was present on her human form, something that must have been especially designed by the organization.

Clare knew that this was probably the last of her extraordinarily good luck, so she hoped dearly that this would be the last time she relied on it. Struggling to get to her knees, Clare was comforted by the sight of Raki hurrying towards her direction, but was left confused and hurt when it became clear he was heading towards Audrey instead. It was crushing seeing her boy attending to this new woman before herself, making her feel unwanted and no longer important. As he placed his hands on Audrey, those thoughts immediately morphed into a deep sense of jealousy as Clare focused her fuming eyes upon the warrior who stole her boy from her.

After taking some time to attend to Audrey, Raki gently lowered her towards the ground as she made his way towards Clare:

"Clare, are you alright?"

"I'm alright…" she replied weakly.

"I don't get it, is Riful on our side or not?"

Turning her head to the side, Clare began to watch the two awakened beings duke it out as she replied to him: "Riful is technically on our side…in her own strange way."

"So what? Should we help her?"

Before she could give an answer, the two of them were left horror-struck to see Alicia speeding towards them with blades at the ready, but were once again saved by those razor sharp strips of the abyssal one. The massive wall of strips formed a protective barrier only mere meters in front of them, forcing the organization's number one warrior to abandon her charge and return her assault upon Riful yet again.

"Clare! What are you doing here!" Clare could hear Cynthia yell as the warrior landed on her side.

It was at that moment when Clare noticed the rest of group two finally arrive at the scene, assisting the abyssal one as they combated Alicia. She didn't know what took them so long, but she was sure glad they made it at all. The more warriors they had against Alicia, the faster she would be defeated, which ultimately meant that they could help Teresa and Priscilla sooner.

"Never mind that Cynthia, heal my wounds now!"

"Alright, stand still Clare!" she replied as she placed both her hands on Clare's terrible wounds, channeling her yoki into Clare's body to accelerate the healing process.

"Take Care of Audrey as well Cynthia!" Raki roared as he eyed the battle ahead: "I'm going to help them."

As Raki joined the battle ahead, Clare could do nothing but watch on. She hated the fact that her body was far too damaged to be of any use, but there was nothing she could do except layback and slowly be regenerated by her comrade. After watching on for a few seconds, it immediately dawned on her that the Organization' s number two was nowhere to be seen. Puzzled, she turned to Cynthia as she asked:

"Where's Beth?"

"Beth has been defeated and as a result, Alicia is out of control."

"What do you mean?" Clare asked looking bewildered as she just witnessed the phantom Miria skillfully dodge Alicia's blades, landing a damaging blow to her abdomen.

"It's as Galatea and Audrey said before. Beth controls Alicia's awakening."

"So she's in a frenzy now..."

The two could only watch on in amazement as Galatea and Miria managed to stun the awakened being long enough to allow Raki to ram his powerful fist into the side of her face, dealing crushing damage as her body was thrown into the air, colliding with the side of an already ruined building. It seemed as though the battle was won the moment Alicia fell into the pit of feeders below, but the rebels had the shock of their lives when the awakened being busted her way out of the horde completely unharmed.

Riful was the first among them to react as she launched a volley of spears in an attempt to slice Alicia apart, however those powerful blades easily dispatched every single one of her organic weapons. As Alicia raced towards Riful, the abyssal one did her best as a last ditch effort to form a defensive shield in front of herself, but it was obvious to all that it just wouldn't be enough to stop the ferocious mass of blades that threatened to destroy her. At the last possible moment before the impact, Dauf came to Riful's defense as he rammed his massive body against the far smaller Alicia, crushing her against the side of a steep rooftop nearby.

As the debris cloud from the mammoth collision began to settle, the Rebels weren't entirely convinced that the fight was over. They could all see Dauf alive and well as he stood on the near-collapsed building, frenziedly searching for signs of Alicia, but she was no where to be seen.

"Good going Dauf, that was a close one." Riful said in a cheerful manner.

"I think she's dead Riful." He replied, looking as self-satisfied as ever.

Sensing that something was very wrong, Riful's face turned into one of fright as she yelled:

"Dauf! Get out of the way now!"

Before the large awakened being even had time to react, his right arm was vaporized in an instant with a shower of purple blood as Alicia emerged from underneath the crumbled building. She raced towards a terrified looking Uma, but was soon intercepted by the sudden appearance of the phantom warrior, who used the blunt side of her claymore to protect herself from the deadly body of blades. From then on, it became a contest of agility as the phantom and the monster became locked in a dance of death, with each of them moving at such incredible speeds, they looked more like opposing lightning bolts trying to strike down the other.

Feeling confident enough to enter the battle, Clare instantly got to her feet as she bolted towards the battle before her, ignoring the disapproving yells of Cynthia behind her. She knew that her body hadn't fully recovered yet, but knowing that time was against her, it became necessary to perform such risks. There was no way she could sit in the sidelines and feel sorry for herself while Teresa and the rest of her comrades fought for her lives. A few wounds weren't going to stop her from doing all she can to save Teresa.

Leaping off the edge of the rooftop, Clare soared towards the unsuspecting Alicia, unleashing the might of the dazzling whirlwind of the quicksword upon her. Her furious attack appeared to have done some damage, cleanly slicing off a rather large blade on the awakened being's neck. Landing on the safety of a nearby rooftop and realizing that she had gained Alicia's attention, Clare braced herself as she watched the mass of blades speed towards her. Ready to defend herself with the same technique as soon as Alicia arrived, Clare was taken by surprise when those dreaded fleshy strips appeared from nowhere yet again, managing to maim the awakened being long enough to allow the rest of the ghosts to inflict some serious wounds upon her.

The most prevalent of those wounds were inflicted by none other than Phantom Miria and the blind Galatea, both of whom managed to stab their massive Claymores into Alicia's abdomen. With a gush of purple blood spewing from such a vulnerable place, it became clear that the fight was nearing its end.

Not wasting any time, Clare bent her knees towards the ground, using them as a spring to launch herself to the wounded awakened being. With one last quicksword, the finishing blow was inflicted as Alicia's body was reduced to an explosion of blood and guts.

"Everyone alright?" A relieved looking Miria asked as she landed on top of a rooftop.

"Miria! We need to help Teresa now!" Clare cried out of desperation.

"Everyone who still has strength left in them return to the cathedral now!" The captain ordered.

"Hey what about your awakening Clare? Don't tell me that you've forgotten about it already?" Riful announced from out of the blue.

"Riful! There's no time for this! We must save Teresa now!" Clare roared back.

"Now why would I let you do that? As soon as you save them, they will probably take my kindness towards you the wrong way and kill me for it. Besides, I don't like Teresa, nor Priscilla for that matter."

Giving Riful a vindictive stare, Clare replied: "If you stand in my way…I'll…."

"There really is no reasoning with you is ther…" Riful said, before her words were cut short when she noticed tears flowing from Clare's distraught looking eyes.

"Is this really that important to you?" she added, sparing a moment to glance at a wounded Dauf before returning her sight upon Clare once again.

"Please help." The teary warrior begged.

Releasing a sigh of defeat, Riful began to move her massive body towards Clare as she said: "Well I can't have you like this now can I?"

"I won't forget this..."

Without a moments hesitation, Clare was the first among the group to rocket back towards the centre of the city, followed closely by the rest. Dauf was injured to some extent, but was strong enough to move with them, however Audrey proved to be too weak as was helped by an eager Raki. Moving as fast as her body could take her,Clare ignored all the aches and pains in her chest that were inflicted earlier. In her mind, nothing mattered except saving Teresa, even if that meant pushing her body pasts its physical limit. Gliding through the air with the wind racing past her face, Clare was relieved to finally see an end to the massive horde of feeders, with the last of them only just crawling over the city's walls.

As she approached the feeder riddled Cathedral, Clare noticed something that almost tore her heart in two. The area around the enormous structure was now completely swallowed up by a mass of the creatures, with layers upon layers of them towering over every other building in the general area. Even the building she had used to escape the Cathedral's rooftop was now completely submerged by the sea of enemies. It was almost incomprehensible to understand the sheer numbers of feeders that were stacked upon each other, probably reaching in the hundreds of thousands within a hundred meter radius around the cathedral.

Touching down on the nearest visible building to the cathedral, Clare desperately tried to think of a way to get to Teresa, but tried as she did, there was just no possible way. The distance between the Cathedral and where they all stood was far too great for any of them to make a jump for it.

"Well, we tried." Riful smirked in a cynical manner, sending a clear message to the others that she had given up by transforming back into her humanoid form.

As Clare stared hopelessly at her unreachable goal, a sudden surge of a strange, yet familiar yoki jolted the life back into her. It was a yoki so mind numbingly powerful, its very presence seemed to pressurize the very air around her, sending cold chills all over her body. There was only one other time she felt such a yoki before, and that was the fight against Priscilla a couple days ago. But as the seconds went by, it became more and more evident that the source of this yoki wasn't from her. Making sure that it wasn't all in her head, Clare turned to her comrades to see if they felt it as well, and by the looks on their astonished faces, it became apparent to her that this yoki was very real indeed.

From the highest point of the cathedral, a sudden brilliant flash of golden light could be seen as a thousand yoki feeders were vaporized in an instant by a sudden burst of yoki travelling at a supersonic speed. The shockwave tore most of the remaining tiles from the cathedral's rooftop, sending a torrent of debris into the sky. Watching on in amazement, Clare's heart began to beat at an unnaturally fast pace with a cold sweat forming on the brow of her face as the strange yoki signature she sensed suddenly seem to stabilize, compressing together from the top of the Cathedral.

As the last of the debris fell to the ground, the ghosts could see a strange feminine figure standing next to Priscilla, with a spectacular array of golden lights surrounding it and a pair of large, majestic looking angelic wings on its back. The wings had a span of almost twice the size of the figure and were as white as the purest of snows, lightly glazed by the reflections of the brilliant golden lights. Its body was mostly covered in a shade of light gray, with platinum silver streaks running all over the surface of that fascinatingly glossy skin that shimmered elegantly with any light that touched it. There was a single, massive looking blade attached on the outer side of either arm, growing slightly outwards, then harshly bending in parallel to its arms. Those blades were of a dazzling metallic gold and exceptionally thin, extending a body's length from the reach of the hands. From the top of its head, there was a mass of blonde, wavy-like ribbon streaks that looked strikingly similar to hair, dancing excitingly in the strong breeze of the Cathedral's rooftop.

Clare's overwhelmed mind tried its best to comprehend what was before her, and as the second went by, her blood ran colder as the horrifying reality of the situation began to set in. Staring into the terrifying golden eyes of the figure, it immediately dawned on her that the awakened being she was looking at was none other that her Teresa. It was beyond crushing for her to see Teresa turn into a monstrous creature, to see her gentle angelic face twist into something emotionless and dead, to see that beautiful wavy hair wither away and turn into a graceless muddle, and to see those mystifying silver eyes transform into a lifeless bleak of gold.

As the mass of feeders began to crawl their way back up the Cathedral following the titanic shockwave of yoki, the ghosts couldn't believe their eyes when the awakened Teresa began to flutter her massive wings, bringing herself airborne and leaving a confused Priscilla behind. At the sight of this, the yoki feeders that madly dashed their way up the Cathedral immediately changed their course, fumbling over each other as they madly followed their target. A rush of panic raced through each ghost when they noticed the deceptively elegant and graceful creature that was Teresa steadily soaring towards them, with an army of the feeders closely following by from the ground below. The deep, low pitch thumps created from those massive wings as they moved a mass of air below them, were so powerful, the very ground shook from the sheer power, sending chills through the ghosts as the sound waves penetrated through their bodies.

The power of those wings almost blew them of their feet as Teresa landed gently on the other end of the flat building they stood on, only a few meters away from them all. Her face retained much of the gentleness from before, but was scarred with a cold, emotionless look to it, with the very warmness and color drained from her visage. She stood well over a meter taller than before, with those brilliant silvery streaks running over the still human-looking contours of her body. Those frightening golden eyes flickered wildly between each of those in front of her, until a smile could be seen on those icy lips of hers as she fixed her gaze upon a petrified Clare.

"There you are my Clare," Teresa said in an expressionless, eerie tone that sounded more like a ghostly echo: "I was worried about you."

Clare remained speechless as Teresa began to casually walk towards her, seemingly unaware of the thousands of feeders that began to crawl up the sides of the building. Staring into those exotic, desolate eyes of hers, Clare's feet began to tremble from fear as she struggled to back away from the advancing monster.

"Don't be frightened Clare," Teresa added as the distance between her and Clare was rapidly closing in: "Come towards me."

Clare knew that this creature that stood before her wasn't the Teresa she knew. The real Teresa would never endanger her life or the life of her friends by leading the colossal army straight towards them in such a reckless manner. Clare wasn't entirely sure if this fallen Teresa was even aware of the horde of feeders that raced towards them, or knew, but didn't care. Either way, this was further proof that Teresa's awakening had driven her completely mad, forgetting even the smallest of values that she had cherished while she was still human.

It was at that moment when the still human looking Priscilla landed behind Teresa, retracting those devilish wings of hers as her feet touched down on rooftop. She madly flickered her gaze between a nervous Clare and the now awakened Teresa, looking completely unsure of what to do. It was apparent by the look in Priscilla's brown eyes, that the presence of a being with a yoki that could rival her own, was making her feel quite easy, even to the point of being panic-stricken.

As the army of feeders made their way to the top of the building, the inert Teresa suddenly turned her attention to her sides, looking as if she finally acknowledged the danger around her. Her arms made a disturbing bone crunching sound as those elongated golden blades of hers extended further outwards, making it apparent that she was readying herself for a bloodbath. Swinging her right arm outwards, the already elongated blade attached to its side, rapidly extended outwards, slicing through a dozen feeders like a hot knife through butter. The cut from the extremely thin, yet razor-sharp blade was so fine, that it took a moment for the feeders to even realize that they had been completely sliced in half, taking a few steps closer before a burst of blood exploded from their wounds. As the feeders collapsed on the side of the rooftop, the ghosts couldn't believe their eyes when they noticed that the slash had cleanly removed a portion of the building, sending the corpses of the dead feeders sliding downwards as the portion crumbled to the streets below.

It was evident that even though Teresa had awakened, her unparalleled skills with a blade were not forgotten. As the feeders swarmed from all four sides of the building, the former number one silenced her many enemies with graceful swings of her menacing blades. Even though the strikes were so blazingly quick and lethal, they were also extremely accurate, deliberately avoiding her allies and only targeting the enemies surrounding them. With the very air around her being sliced apart, Clare began to notice that there was one among them whom Teresa didn't seem to take into consideration. The thin, brown haired Priscilla had an edgy look on her face as she frenziedly avoided the lightning quick swipes of those metallic blades, managing to keep herself in one piece throughout the chaotic cyclone of death.

With their numbers dwindling rapidly, it didn't take long until the last of the feeders could be seen only halfway towards the end of the city, then one third of the way, and finally, just a few blocks away. In the span of a few minutes, Teresa had managed to reduce the once enormous sea of feeders that covered the entire city, to a mere puddle centered around the cathedral.

As the last of the feeders were killed off, their lifeless bodies joined the corpses of their brethren surrounding the building in the hundred of thousands. Their bodies piled up all the way to the top of the building with their numbers getting smaller as the distance increased, making the mass slaughter look much like a series of steps created from flesh. The stench from all these slaughter corpses, bits of flesh, guts and blood was beyond atrocious, something none of them could even imagine was possible.

With the battle now over, the only sound that remained were the gentle howls of the nightly winds that raced past them, a godsend moment of peace that had long been drowned out by the cries of a the feeders in their millions. Teresa stood as still as a statue, with the breeze gently playing with her newfound ribbon like blonde hair as she stared at the carnage before her. Her entire body showed no evidence of the battle that had ensued a moment earlier, void of even the smallest marks of blood or guts. It was only those elongated golden blades of hers that bore the scars of battle, drenched in a drape of dark blue blood. Lowering her blood-soaked blades, a wicked grin of satisfaction could see seen on her lips as she returned her gaze to Clare.

"I did this all for you Clare. Do you like what you see?" Teresa said in that chilling new voice of hers as she paused for a moment before shortly adding: "Don't you just love the sight of a million corpses rotting before your eyes?"

Taking a few nervous steps backwards as Teresa once again began to walk closer towards her with that sickening smile on her lips, Clare madly flickered her gaze between her comrades as an instinctive plea for help, but knew that the others were just as, if not more petrified than herself. Out of sheer desperation, she then fixed her eyes upon the one person whom she knew could protect her from this monstrosity, but was left in the cold as Priscilla lowered her face in doubt.

"I never imagined it would feel this good. All those years of holding back my true nature…such a waste."

Clare's heart skipped a beat when she reached the edge of the building, almost falling over as she rashly placed a foot over the edge without even looking. She could do nothing but stare hopelessly as the much taller Teresa stopped in front of her in silence, lowering her distorted face downwards with that smile still firmly planted on her lips. Clare watched on in horror as those massive blades began to retract into the sides of Teresa's arms, making that disturbing bone crunching noise as they slid under her skin.

With those razor sharp weapons safely tucked under her skin, Teresa began to move her right arm towards the trembling warrior's face as she brushed the tips of her fingers against her cheek, unknowingly sinking her inhumane claws deep into Clare's gentle skin. Blinded by insanity, Teresa didn't even seem to take notice of the blood that ran down the side of Clare's face as she continued to stare at her little girl without the faintest evidence of remorse in those monstrous eyes.

"Stop it! Can't you see your hurting her!" Raki yelled furiously only a few meters away, finally building the courage to do so.

Turning her attention to the young man, Teresa's smile quickly left her as she replied:

"Such an ignorant fool you are. Keep silent if you wish to keep your life."

"You're the fool."

Upon hearing this, Teresa's calm expression quickly turned into one of great annoyance as she began to march towards him in a threatening manner, with those menacing blades of hers beginning to slide outwards from under her skin. Clare's heart jumped at the sight of those golden blades, knowing she must say something to draw Teresa's attention away from her boy. With his life on the line, the initial fear that locked her lips together had vanished for a brief moment, allowing her voice to escape from the prison it had been encased in.

"Teresa…don't you dare hurt him…"

Stopping in her tracks the moment Clare's voice had reached her ears, the awakened being stood in silence while continuing to stare at Raki with eyes of interest.

"I'm not going to kill him Clare," Teresa replied to the relief of the shorthaired warrior, but that relief was short lived when the awakened being continued: "I'm merely going to teach him a lesson."

With her threat a complete failure, Clare tried her best to move her trembling feet, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't find the strength within herself to overwhelm the incomprehensible fear that anchored her feet to the floor. She hated herself for not being able to stand up to Teresa, hated herself for being so weak, and especially hated herself for not being able to Protect those she cared for the most. Once again, she was forced to watch on as the situation unfolded before her, unable to alter the outcome, no matter how much she wanted to.

The moment before Teresa came in contact with Raki, an overwhelming sense of relief ran through Clare's shaky body when she witnessed Priscilla coming to his defense by stubbornly stepping in the way of the former number one. The timid looking girl was dwarfed by the much taller being before her, but managed to retain a relatively composed face nevertheless. Those brown eyes showed the faintest signs of fear in them as she kept her head lowered towards the ground, making it obvious that she felt intimidated by Teresa's presence.

"Do you think you can stop me?"

Raising her lowered face, Priscilla anxiously looked into Teresa's eyes as she spoke in her quiet, unsteady voice: "I can try."

"Well would you look at that, the number two thinks she can defeat me." Teresa said in a mocking tone, taking the time to look at all the speechless faces around her before returning her gaze back onto Priscilla. "I was wrong about you. You are weak. You will always be weak and will never surpass me."

Though visibly shaken by Teresa's harsh words, Priscilla continued to stand steadily on her two feet, sending a clear message that she wasn't going to back down any time soon. She took a moment to glance over at Clare, then fixed her eyes upon the young man who stood nervously behind her. Before Clare could even react, she felt an unnatural movement of wind as the two of them suddenly appeared next to her, with Raki looking slightly nauseated from the incredible acceleration.

"You better hope that you can move faster than that." Teresa noted scornfully with a pleased smirk on her lips.

Clare noticed that Priscilla was standing next to her with her left leg deciphered, realizing that Teresa managed to slice it off during that burst of inhumane speed. Nevertheless, Priscilla didn't look surprised in the slightest, almost as if she was expecting something like that to happen. As her missing limb instantly regenerated, Priscilla turned to face Clare with a look of uncertainty in her eyes as she spoke cautiously:

"The awakening has changed Teresa's way of thinking, she is very dangerous in this state."

With the blood still freshly dripping off her face, Clare looked into the eyes of Priscilla as she shakily spoke: "Thank…you…for saving Raki."

Giving Clare a weak smile, Priscilla responded: "I'll try to keep her busy for as long as I can."

"Just how powerful do you think she is?" Clare asked nervously.

"She is definitely a formidable opponent, the strongest I have even seen in fact. Clare…I'm not sure if I can defeat her."

"Clare why are you talking to her?" Teresa demanded furiously as she began to march towards them with those golden blades expanding further outwards. "I don't want you talking to her, and you will do as I say."

"Please try not to hurt her…" Clare whispered in Priscilla's ear as she nervously eyed the approaching monster.

"You should be more worried about Teresa hurting you." Priscilla replied as the very bones and flesh within her body began to twist and bend, transforming her human body into her monstrous awakened form.

In a flash, the golden blade on Teresa's right arm rapidly extended towards an unsuspecting Priscilla, cleanly piercing through her chest and pinning her against the side of the large brick chimney. Teresa's strike was so amazingly quick, it almost bordered on instantaneous, barely giving the air in between the two to react to the sudden acceleration of metal that raced through it.

"Please tell me you've got more than that…Priscilla." Teresa said in her usual cynical tone.

Without responding to her, the one horned beast pointed both her fingers to the front as those razor sharp limbs of hers expanded in a spiral fashion around the blade, bulleting towards their target. Given no choice but to retreat backwards, the awakened Teresa removed her blade from Priscilla's chest as she avoided the dozen or so appendages that raced towards her.

Just as Teresa was about to recover from her dodging spree, an incognito Priscilla instantly appeared behind her, attempting to impale her with a strike to the back, but the former number one proved much to quick for such an attack to land, instantly appearing a few meters to her side as she avoided the strike. Teresa countered with a flurry of swipes from her blades, but the only thing she managed to slice was the air before her as Priscilla cleverly avoided her attacks. As the battle intensified, it had reached a point where the two awakened beings were moving far to quickly for the ghosts to properly make out their movements. The only thing they could see was an occasion grey and purple blur racing towards each other, sending powerful shockwaves of air when the two collided. Occasionally, they would witness entire buildings being sliced in two as those menacing blades missed their target, ripping through brick and the thickest of metals, sending shards and debris flying everywhere.

As Clare and the others watched on in dismay, they could all see the blind warrior, Galatea, walk in front of them, stopping to a halt before the very edge of the rooftop. She stood there in dead silence for a short moment with the wind playing with her long hair before she turned to the shorthaired warrior behind her.

"Clare, you can still save her." She said in an uncharacteristically soft tone, clearly still stricken by the graveness of the situation.

"What are you talking about?" Clare replied in astonishment.

"The Teresa that we know is still in there, and she needs your help."

With a glimmer of hope appearing in her eyes, Clare shakily replied:

"How?"

"You told me a long time ago that you managed to return a warrior back from awakening."

"You mean Jean?" Clare replied looking completely dumbfounded and unsure of where Galatea was heading with this: "I managed to reverse her awakening, but only because her mind was still human."

"There still remains a fraction of Teresa's human consciousness within that being."

"Are you sure?" Clare responded wide-eyed.

"I cannot see the creature before me, but I can sense every bit of yoki that runs through its mind and body. Whatever remains of Teresa's consciousness is fighting a loosing battle, so the quicker we act the better the chances."

"Chances of what?"

Turning to face the stunned warrior, Galatea release the faintest of smiles as she answered:

"Reversing her awakening."

"There's just no way! She's completely awakened!"

"Because you contain Teresa's yoki within yourself, you and her share a bond that is comparable to that of Alicia and Beth. If you try hard enough, it could be possible to bring her back."

Before Clare even had the time to respond, a sudden shockwave raced towards them as the purple blur instantly sharpened to reveal a wounded Priscilla taking to the air, violently colliding with the side of an enormous brick house only about one hundred meters from where they stood. The bone crushing impact instantly caused the building to break into a thousand pieces, throwing up a large cloud of rubble and bits of brick in its wake.

As she watched the last of the debris fall to the ground, Clare surprised herself greatly when feelings of concern began to take root within her mind for Priscilla's wellbeing, with those feelings soon morphing into a great sense of guilt for subjecting Priscilla with such an intense punishment. The one horned beast had plagued her nightmares for as long as she could remember, but this time, it was the nightmare that protected her from the dream, from Teresa. It was a twist of black irony that Clare just couldn't comprehend with her fragile mind, and one that just wouldn't leave her either, no matter how much she wanted it to.

Her heavy heart sunk deeper at the sight of Priscilla coming out of the rubble with her left arm and leg completely torn off, and the bottom part of her jaw missing entirely. Bits of flesh hung loosely from those wounds, with a river of blue blood running down the contours of her purple skin and joining the puddle around her feet.

Standing only a few meters away, with a confident smirk on her lips was a completely unscathed Teresa. Clare's stomach almost turned from sheer repulsion as she witnessed the awakened being run her extended tongue along the surface of her blades, licking up the cluster of blue blood that ran along the sides of the metal.

"Priscilla!" Raki roared out of sheer concern from next to Clare, causing a dangerous amount of attention.

"Raki! Stay quiet!" Miria ordered hastily, madly turning her fuming silvery eyes towards his own fearful ones.

"She's risking her life to fight for us! And most of you can barely look at her without being repulsed!" He yelled as tears began to flow down the side of his face: "Especially you Clare! You always put her down whenever she just wanted to be accepted! Now she's fighting for her life because of you!"

_Because of me…_

_Because of me…_

_Because of me…_

_Because of me…Teresa was killed…_

_Because of me…Priscilla awakened…_

_Because of me…Irene and many others were killed…_

_We're in this situation…Because of me…._

With a tear running down the side of her face from this sheer revelation, Clare proceeded to close her eyes as she concentrated deeply on the powerful yoki channels that ran through Teresa's body. The entire world around her fell silent, and all feeling was lost as she dwelled deeper and deeper into the twisted maze of Teresa's subconscious. A complex mass of memories and thoughts raced past her as she continued her search for that tiny piece of subconscious that kept the real Teresa alive. For a moment, their bodies had melded together, as if an invisible umbilical cord connected the mind and spirit of both warriors into one. She could feel that the awakened Teresa's subconscious had detected her presence, and tried its best to destroy the alien, but the link between them was far to great to be broken at this point.

Finally locating the tiny orb of light within the twisted mess of thorns, Clare gently wrapped the tips of her fingers over the surface, pulling the tiny object towards her chest and pushing it within her own body. As she channeled every ounce of yoki that remained within herself, the thick forest of thorns that surrounded her instantly began to break apart, causing a wave of destruction radiating outwards. As the last of the thorns vanished from existence, a brief moment of darkness overwhelmed the infinite space around her, but was soon ended when a brilliant array of colorful lights began to spawn from sheer nothingness, dancing excitingly around her body. The warming touch of the lights instantly flooded her mind with thoughts of Teresa, her wavy hair, those silver eyes, and that faint smile she used to wear. She wanted to stay forever in the paradise of Teresa's subconscious, but knew deep in her heart that the deed was done and it was time for her to leave.

Ending the connection between Teresa and herself, Clare could once again feel the gentle touch of the nightly winds, and the frostiness of the night as her consciousness returned back into the shell of her body. Gradually opening her eyes, Clare was overly thrilled to see Teresa back in her human form, laying flat against the top of a nearby rooftop in the nude, with an astonished looking Priscilla standing before her.

Unable to contain her excitement, Clare immediately leapt off the edge of the building, landing on a nearby rooftop as she frantically made her way towards Teresa. Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, it only took a few seconds before the shorthaired warrior finally arrived at her destination. With her boots touching down next to Teresa, Clare instantly collapsed to her knees as she wrapped her hands around the wavy haired warrior, embracing her with all the might she could muster. Tears ran down the contours of her face as Clare felt a pair of arms enfold around her, and an angelic smile making it her way.

"Clare…why are you crying?"

"I thought I lost you again…" the sobbing warrior replied, barely able to bring forth the words from the sheer excitement that raced through her body.

"What..Happened?"

"I'll tell you later…right now, I just want to be stay like this for a while…"

Clare continued her emotional driven embrace of Teresa even though she heard the distinct sound of her comrades' boots touching down against the surface of the rooftop behind her. She knew that it was time for them to leave the city, but the deep thrill of holding Teresa in her arms once more was far to great for her to let go of.

"Clare…I'm sorry, but we need to get going as soon as possible. The organization will definitely send a search party very soon." The captain said from behind her.

There was a brief moment of silence between the ghosts, with the only sound heard being the gentle howls of the wind that raced past each one of them. Then, suddenly, from underneath the overprotective arms of Clare, the gentle voice of Teresa could be heard:

"I think I might know a place where we can go."

I hope everyone liked this chapter, even though it was quite long. Someone a while back in the reviews said that 'long is good', so i won't argue with that.

**please leave a review to tell me what you guys think. I really enjoy reading your reviews :)**

Thanks for reading!


	38. Chapter 38

Hey i'm back. I took a break from all the writing, mostly because i didn't have much time to write. Things are beginning to settle down now, and the next chapter will be out sooner than you think.

please tell me what you think! i hope i delivered!

**please review!**

* * *

Chapter 38

_Walking down a long, eerie corridor, Clare follows the sound of a mysterious sound that echoed out from the shadows towards the far end of the walkway. Each one of her slow, gradual steps translated into loud creaks and groans as the old wooden floor beneath her shifted under the weight of her body. As she edged closer to the source, the muffled sound from before had sharpened to reveal two familiar voices as they playfully giggled amongst themselves. Her curiosity levelled greatly the moment she identified the voices to be Raki's and what sounded like Audrey's, causing her legs to subconsciously increasing their pace two fold as she made her way down the gloomy corridor. Only a few meters in front of Clare, on the right side of the wall, was a half opened door that leaked streams of the dim lights that illuminated the room it incased. Sneaking her way to the door, Clare shakily poked her head into the room and was startled to see a large royal looking room with brightly lit candles littering the tops of the cupboards and floor, with a large bed and a dazzling array of various mythical creatures engraved all along the expensive wooden frame. On the bed was a large royal blue sheet that enclosed the two giggling figures as they tossed and turned from under the cover. Deep down Clare knew that she wouldn't like what she would find in the room before her, but with her curiosity approaching a breaking point, she found it impossible to resist the temptation of finding out more. She summoned the courage to take a step forward, placing her shaking hand on the golden doorknob, and slowly push the door inwards._

_She was greatly startled when the two figures beneath the sheets suddenly brushed the fabric out of the way, exposing their nude bodies to her. Clare was horrified to see Raki and Audrey heavily panting and drenched in sweat as they lay next to each other, caressing the other in such an intimate and sexual manner. Clare's eyes ran through the contours of Raki's nude body for a split second, then disgustfully fixed her gaze upon the siren that defiled her boy. Audrey's long, loose hair ran wildly across the surface of both their bodies as she wrapped her arms tightly around him. She looked deeply into Clare's eyes with a look of satisfaction written all over her face, and a sly grin evident on those icy lips of hers. Clare's blood began to boil when Audrey returned her attention to the man she lay next to, leaning closer towards him and planting a soft, seductive kiss on the lips. Clare began to back away from sheer disgust as she stared at the two intimate individuals before her, but immediately halted when Audrey parted the kiss and looked her way yet again. As she stared into Audrey's devious eyes for a second time, Clare's anger involuntarily caused her to tense both her hands in a tight fist, but no matter how hard she tried to put them to use, she found herself frozen solid from sheer astonishment. _

_She took another glance at Raki, and was surprised, no, hurt to see him take no notice of her, almost as if she no longer existed. He just proceeded to stare lustfully at Audrey, looking as if he had been entranced by her spell._

"_He's all mine," Audrey suddenly spoke in a slow, alluring tone, causing Clare to immediately return her gaze upon the her: "He doesn't want you anymore," __She then brushed her hand gently across his mesmerised face: "He only wants me."_

* * *

Clare suddenly woke to the familiar sight of the timber linings that composed the ceiling above her. She was drenched in sweat and found herself struggling to catch her breath as she lay flat against the bed breathing heavily. Sitting up from the bed, she let out a sigh of relief as she realised what she just saw a moment earlier was nothing but a dream, no, a nightmare.

After taking a few seconds to collect her thoughts, Clare began to inspect her surroundings. She was inside a rather ordinary looking cabin, with few pieces of furniture scattered along the walls. It was painfully simple, composed of nothing but shards of finely cut timber and some bits of iron for stability, but nothing more.

Yesterday, they left the ruins of Rabona and after many hours of marching towards the northeast though the seemingly endless green of the plain lands, they had come across this humble town. It was a busy town surrounded by large stonewalls that resided next to an even larger Cliffside. Teresa had told them that they would be welcome here. She knew that Miria and her small hunting party already knew the location of this town, and trusted her to lead the entire party there. As soon as they arrived here, they were surprised when the mayor immediately recognised Teresa and without hesitation, offered the entire party accommodation within the town. Miria, instead, asked for some sort of accommodation that was near the town, somewhere more discrete and away from hordes of people.

So now here they were, residing in small abandoned cabins hidden in a forest only a small distance north of the town. There were seven cabins in total, and there were two ghosts residing in each one.

Throwing her bed sheets off to the side, Clare got up and sat against the side of her bed. She gently smiled to herself as she gazed upon Teresa who slept soundly in a bed next to hers. She lay on her back, with a single arm resting on her chest and her beautiful wavy hair dangling helplessly off the side of the bed. Teresa slept so blissfully, Clare thought she looked like an angel.

But she was far from it.

She still couldn't believe how someone as elegant and beautiful as Teresa could be so ugly only a moment earlier.

Brushing these thoughts aside, Clare sat up from her bed and walked towards the window that was adjacent to her bed. The area around the cabin was surrounded by fields of lush grass with a dense wall of trees in the distance. The other cabins were scattered randomly throughout the field, separated by small distances from one another. There was an old abandoned well in the middle of the camp, and a large rusting workshop on the far western side.

As Clare scanned the surroundings before her, She scoffed when she noticed Raki and Audrey together. They sat against a rather ancient looking log in front of their small cabin chatting amongst themselves. The two of them always seemed to be together, and Clare wasn't comfortable with that. She didn't want Raki to be with Audrey. Audrey couldn't be trusted.

Yesterday, she tried to find a cabin that could accommodate three people, enough space for herself, Teresa and Raki, but to her dismay, each one of the seven cabins were identical, and could only accommodate two people. She knew that if given the choice, the two of them would choose to be together, and just as she thought, this was indeed the case, and there was nothing she could do about it.

* * *

"Well last night was interesting."

"What do you mean?"

"I've never shared the night alone with a civilian before" Audrey replied as she nudged herself closer towards Raki from the log they sat against.

"I'm not exactly a civilian anymore..."

"The transformation process can take a while for one to get used to. It can be frightening at first..."

"Frightening? No way." Raki responded with a pleased smirk on his face, excitingly kicking the log with the back of his boots: "I've spent most of my life with those that possessed the blood of a yoma, but because I was human, I could never really be one of them. There was always this looming feelings that I just didn't belong. But now that I have this new body, all that has changed. I can now think as you think, feel as you feel and move as you move. I know this must be something difficult to understand, but I finally feel like i'm apart of something bigger than myself. I can now protect the ones I care about."

Audrey was left wide eyed by his response. She never expected him, or anybody else for that matter, to react so positively to such a depressive subject. She saw her hybrid body as nothing more but a disease, something to be loathed. But this man took what she thought to be a disease, and saw it as a blessing instead.

"I think I understand how you feel..." was her delayed response after taking some time to think.

"Besides," he said in a cheeky tone while leaning closer towards her: "If it wasn't for this body, we would have never met."

Audrey turned her face off to the side in an attempt to hide her horrendously flushed face. She felt foolish for reacting in such a manner, but at the same time she enjoyed it greatly.

"Charming as always." She said, still too shy to face him.

Their moment together was tarnished by the arrival of a figure both could see in the corner of their eye. It made its presence known by stepping in the way of their sunlight, casting a long, cooling shadow over them.

"I'm surprised to see you guys awake. I would have thought you'd have a late morning, if you know what I mean." Helen teased in her usual mischievous tone with a huge grin on her face.

"Late morning?" Audrey replied naively, clearly clueless as to what Helen meant.

With her attention turned to Audrey, Helen added: "So how was it? How did it feel? Was it as good as you imagined?"

"What do you mea..."

Before Audrey could finnish her sentence, Helen's reckless mouth was on the move yet again: "Oh I can only imagine all the things you guys did to each other last night! Hey I have an idea! Maybe next time I can join in on the fun, have a piece for myself."

At this point, the look on Audrey's face made it clear that she suddenly understood what Helen was trying to say. She was left speechless and unable to give a response. She looked to Raki as a gesture for help, but even he was left tight lipped by the awkwardness that arrived with Helen.

"Audrey and I aren't..." he managed to say, though quite unconvincingly.

"I'm sooo jealous of you," Helen interrupted yet again as she sat in between the two, gently pushing both of them off to the side to make space for herself: "Snuggling the night with a man, i've always wondered what that was like."

The two of them continued to sit awkwardly beside their comrade. Helen was always an open minded individual, but sometimes she just didn't know when to draw the line. They knew that her intentions were completely innocent and only intended for a bit of fun, and that made it difficult to be upset at her.

Raki felt the relief of his life when he noticed Clare walking towards them. She had just left her cabin and had her eyes firmly peeled on Helen. A closer look on her face made it apparent that she was exhausted, probably receiving little to no sleep for the past couple of days.

The playful grin on Helens face immediately vanished the moment she noticed clare making her way over. Clare was never the kind of person to find the funny side of things, and this was especially the case due to recent events. Nobody was too thick headed to realize this, not even someone like Helen.

"Well I guess we'll speak later then," Helen said with an uncharacteristically serious tone as she began to wisely return back to her cabin.

Clare arrived shortly later, stopping to a halt just in front of them. She scanned the face of Audrey for a second or two, then set her gaze upon Raki.

"Did Helen cause some trouble?" She said.

"No, she was just making conversation." Raki replied, trying his best to sound as genuine as possible. He didn't want Clare to be under any more stress than she currently was.

"You're just like Teresa. Not a very good liar."

"Ok, so she may have made things a bit uncomfortable..."

"How did you rest last night Clare?" Audrey asked, changing the direction of their conversation.

"Fine."

"And Teresa?"

"A little worn out, but nothing to worry about." Clare replied after looking off to the side.

"Well i'm glad to hear that. Yesterday was tough on everyone."

A few seconds of silence ensued until clare finally spoke: "I'll be back shortly."

"Where are you going Clare?" Raki asked.

"I just need some time alone."

The two of them could only watch as Clare turned around and headed towards the northern end of the camp and disappeared behind a thick wall of trees.

"Is she going to be alright?" Audrey asked Raki out of concern.

"This is just Clare. Don't worry about it. She'll be fine." He replied with a smile.

Lowering her head in sadness, Audrey added: "She dislikes me, doesn't she Raki? I can see it in her eyes that she doesn't trust me."

"Why do you say that?"

"I don't know...perhaps i'm just seeing things, but it could be possible that Clare sees me as a threat..."

Raki removed his gaze on Audrey and directed it to the trees where Clare had disappeared behind. As he stared at the thick wall of green, he wondered If Audrey was right.

* * *

After walking for a short moment, Clare stopped to take a large breath of the untarnished, rejuvenating air around her. She was surrounded by an army of trees and shrubs so thick, visibility was reduced to only a few meters. The silence of the forest was tranquil, and it was exactly what she needed at this moment in time. Sometimes, she missed being alone and wondering the lands by herself. It was always a large part of her life.

Reaching for her claymore that was holstered on her back, Clare set her sight upon the closest tree in front of her. In a mere second, the tall object was reduced to thousands of pieces as her blade gracefully melded with the air in rapid succession. The sound of wooden shrapnel littered the once deathly silence, shortly followed by the much louder sound of the rest of the tree collapsing to the ground.

The quiet of the forest returned once more. Clare closed her eyes and tried to collect her faulting thoughts. But no matter how hard she tried to keep them away, those dreaded thoughts never seemed to leave her. Thoughts about that siren.

But what bothered her the most wasn't Audrey in particular. It was because she disliked Audrey for some other reason besides the fact that she didn't trust her. There were personal reasons involved, and she couldn't quite understand why.

_Am I jealous of Audrey?_

_Or am I overprotective of Raki?_

_...or...do I feel something for Raki?_

_...Something humans would call love?_

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of movement up ahead. There must have been someone, or something hidden behind the bushes for such a sound to be made. She slowly pulled out her weapon and cautiously made her way towards the source while trying her best to detect any yoki signitures up ahead.

She felt a faint signal for a split second, but it disappeared almost as quick as she discovered it.

_This is odd. It cannot be a yoma because of the way it suddenly hid its aura..._

_It could be one of the organization's warriors..._

_Or perhaps a clever awakened being..._

Then, without any sort of warning, Clare felt a sudden acceleration of wind behind her and suddenly found herself pinned down against the ground by something with crushing strength. Her attacker held her down by the neck, face first into the cold dirt, and with a grip that felt strangely familiar. Judging by its strength, and the way it moved, Clare knew this definitely wasn't a yoma. It probably wasn't a warrior of the organization either, as it was doubtful they would still be in possession of such powerful warriors. The limb that had the death grip on her neck was covered in a skin that felt very human, or an awakened being in the form of a human.

"It's been a long time." An all to familiar voice spoke while maintaining her deathly grip on Clare's neck.

"Who...are you?...w...what do you want?" Clare struggled to say as her mouth was being forced into the dirt.

"Once again you forget who I am. Now you really hurt my feelings for real."

Clare didn't know who this was, but every cell in her body begged her to get away. There was only one other time she remembered her body reacting in such a manner, and that was against a particular warrior over seven years ago.

The figure continued: "I still remember you. You were the one who just wouldn't give up. It was hopeless, but you stubbornly fought on. Thats right...your name was Clare."

As the figure continued to speak, the voice became more and more familiar to Clare. Her mind desperately scanned through her memories, trying to match a face to that voice, and it was only a short moment before she found one. A deathly fear enveloped her body when a certain individual popped into her mind.

"It cannot be..."Clare groaned.

"What are you mumbling? I cannot hear you from down there."

Having no alternative, Clare instantly flooded her body with a torrent of yoki, giving her muscles the much needed boost in strength and agility needed to escape the deathly grip of the figure.

"You were always full of surprises," the figure said with a smirk on her face, eyeing the short haired warrior intensely: "I don't know how you keep doing that without awakening."

Standing only a few meters in front of her, stood the ghost Clare swore she killed seven years ago. From that silvery hair tied into a single ponytail, to that sadistic look to her eyes, there was no mistaking it, this warrior was the former number four, Ophelia.

"But how...How is this possible? I killed you!" Clare stammered, unable to believe her eyes.

"I know, it's a bother isn't it?" Ophelia replied while beginning to casually walk towards Clare: "Even you had me convinced I was dead."

"So how did you survive?"

"If you really wanted to kill me, then you should have cut off my head." Ophelia said as she stopped in front of a shocked Clare, crossing her arms in anger as she continued: "The organization managed to revive my corpse and I was given a special honor."

"Special honor?"

"Enough games!" Ophelia stormed, looking deeply into Clare's eyes with an unfamiliar seriousness: "I trusted you with my will. Did you do it?"

Clare remained silent, unable to find words to come up with a response. Her mind still struggled to comprehend what had just happened, let alone think about what ophelia was saying.

"Hey cut it out! Did you do it or not?" She cried out, sounding more and more desperate as time went on.

Clare remained silent once more for a brief moment. She collected her thoughts and made sure to speak carefully.

"Priscilla has been taken care of."

The seriousness on Ophelia's face immediately left her, and was replaced with a huge grin instead. She looked genuinely excited about the news and began to madly mutter something to herself:

"Did you hear that brother? You are avenged! I told you didn't I? I told you she can do it. The one horned beast is dead! No more!"

There were more to her words, but most were either too soft, or too mumbled for Clare to fully understand. After a few more seconds of mumbling to herself, Ophelia set her attention back on to Clare once more and spoke:

"I wish I was there! To see the head being torn from the neck! To see it being drowned in its own blood! What a wonderful sight it must have been!"

"Enough Ophelia!" Another voice shouted from behind the bushes to their right. This was a voice that was also familiar to Clare, but unlike Ophelia's, this voice was definitely a pleasant one to hear.

A figure wearing a dark brown robe with a large hood covering its face emerged out from the trees. It set its beaming silvery eyes upon Ophelia, then froze when it sighted Clare.

"You always ruin everything." Ophelia said to the figure in a tone that made her irritation apparent.

"You should end your childish grudge against me. What I did to you was over seven years ago. Get over it." The figure replied.

"You caught me off guard that time. Why don't you try that technique on me again?"

"Watch your tone around me Ophelia. Do not forget that between the two of us, I am the superior."

Ophelia didn't say a word. She just angrily crossed her arms and flicked her head off to the side. Her irritation was once again obvious, and Clare couldn't help but feel satisfied seeing her like that.

The figure in the robe took its eyes off Ophelia and set it upon Clare instead.

"Well now, don't we have a way of meeting in an unexpected way." It said, as it began to remove the hood that covered its head.

There before clare, stood none other than quick sword Irene. She, like Ophelia, looked exactly the same as in her memories. The same elongated ears, smooth, edged face and that distinct sharp look to her eyes. She seemed to have gotten a hold of another right arm, but her left was still missing entirely.

"Irene!" Clare spoke in bafflement.

"I'm glad to see you're alive Clare," She said before setting her sight upon her former arm, upon Clare's right arm: "I see that you have taken good care of it."

Clare spared a glance at the arm, but quickly returned her attention upon Irene: "It has served me well, but i'm afraid I can never fully repay you for what you've done for me."

Irene released a slight smile, but it vanished almost as quickly as it started. "Did you pursue your goal to take down Priscilla?"

"Clare told me the one horned beast is dead." Ophelia snorted, playfully tapping Clare on the shoulder with an unnecessary amount of force.

Clare could see the skeptical look on Irene's face. The former number two stared at her with great interest for a moment, but soon broke the silence as she spoke: "We were told to deliver a message to a group of rebels supposedly stationed here. I assume you are one of them?"

"I thought you abandoned the organization. Why do you take orders from them once more?" Clare asked.

"Myself, along with Ophelia, were given a special position within the organisation. I will explain later when we meet up with the rest of your group." Irene said.

"Brought back from the dead, so to say." Ophelia added.

* * *

I know its been a while guys, am im sry again. please tell me what you think of this chapter.

**please review!**


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

As she made her way back to the camp, Clare looked over her shoulder to make sure the newcomers were following her lead, and also to make sure if they were still real. The two of them followed closely behind, with Irene being her usual mysterious self, and Ophelia strutting proudly as she did before her supposed death. Even though these two were obviously alive and well, Clare still couldn't believe it. She struggled to wrap her mind around the idea that they had returned, and this was especially the case with Ophelia. It had been a little over seven years since she had seen either one of them, and she wasn't sure if this reunion was necessarily a good thing. The fact that they now supposedly worked for the organisation made her feel quite uncomfortable, and she wasn't sure if she could trust them, perhaps not even Irene.

A shiver ran down Clare's spine when Ophelia suddenly met with her stare. The former number four gave her a bone-chilling smile, that gleeful smile that reeked of deception and lies. The smile that fooled her once before. She could still distinctly remember the moment when Ophelia was about to end her life in cold blood. She had been reduced to her knees, with her right arm and left hand decapitated, unable to defend herself. If Irene hadn't intervened, she probably would have submitted to Ophelia out of pure desperation, left to pathetically beg for her life. Not only would that act have been futile, but it would have diminished her honour as a warrior and her dignity as an individual.

Brushing these thoughts aside, Clare returned her attention to the front, shoving the last few remaining branches out of the way before leaving the forest and entering the clearing of the camp. She scanned the view before her, but no signs of any of her comrades.

She gave the two newcomers a suspicious stare, and knew that from now on, she would have to watch her back at all times. If this was some sort of set up, then it was likely that one of these two would attempt to strike her from behind when she least expected it. Since she knew these two warriors, it was probable that Irene would strike first with a quicksword to her back. Luckily for her, she knew how that technique worked, and would probably have enough time to counter it.

"Follow me." Clare said, returning her attention to the front and making her way to the centre of the camp while closely watching her back.

"Lead the way." Irene said.

Upon reaching the centre of the camp, Clare stopped to search for any signs of her comrades. Once again, there was no sign of anyone, and this was beginning to make her feel slightly nervous. Miria would never leave without letting her know, and it was quite unlikely her comrades had been slaughtered without her sensing anything. A bloodbath would have left more than a few traces, and would have no doubt radiated yoki like crazy.

She began to think deeply about the possibility of betrayal from these two, but she couldn't come up with a valid reason for this to be the case. If Ophelia and Irene really wanted her killed, then it would have made much more sense to attempt the assassination within the solitude and isolation of the forest, not follow her all the way back to camp and do it here. None of this made any sense to her, and uncertainty was one of the few things that honestly frightened her.

"What is this Clare?" A familiar voice seeped into her ears.

Turning to the direction of the sound, Clare could see Miria standing by the entrance of her cabin

with a hand clenching the hilt of her blade. The captain glared suspiciously at the strangers, looking as if she was ready to strike them down the moment she smelt trouble. The look on her face made It obvious that she was not comfortable with having two strange warriors in such close proximity, and Clare didn't blame her for it.

It was only a short moment before the rest of the ghosts made their presence known. One by one they appeared from behind the various cabins scattered around the camp, glaring at the newcomers like hawks. Each one of them had their weapons at the ready, watching closely for a signal from their captain to strike them down.

By this time, it had become apparent to Clare that this was no mere coincidence. The way the ghosts were aligned seemed like a perfectly calculated ambush. Miria had proven once again her expert tactician skills, always staying one step ahead of everyone else. Clare didn't know how Miria could possibly have known about Irene and Ophelia returning with her, but it was this superior perception that ensured her continued captaincy.

Clare immediately noticed the absence of a few key figures within her group. Among the missing were Teresa, Riful, Dauf, Priscilla, Raki and even Audrey, but this wasn't particularly surprising. Miria needed the true ghosts, the members she had spent over seven years with, and the only ones she could trust to pull off an ambush like this. The new members probably weren't even told of the ambush. The awakened beings radiated too much yoki to be sufficiently stealthy, Raki and Audrey were too new to relied on properly, and Teresa was most likely still asleep.

"I knew these two a long time ago. They bring a message." Clare said.

"You know better than to lead unknowns into our base Clar..." Miria added before her face crumbled the moment she laid eyes on Ophelia.

"Is there something wrong with you? Did you bite your tongue?" Ophelia asked.

"The former number four...The blood soaked warrior...Ophelia..." They could hear Miria whisper under her breath.

"Oh so you know who I am," Ophelia said while beginning to casually walk towards a clearly distraught Miria: "I wonder where we've met before?"

"Don't come any closer you fiend..."

Upon hearing this, a perplexed looking Ophelia stopped her advance towards the captain and gave her a curious stare instead. She stood there thinking for a while, but it wasn't long until she clicked her fingers and spoke:

"I think I remember you...You're the former number eight Phantom Miria, the one who killed your own friend...that was so coldblooded of you."

Clare could see Miria tightening her grip on her claymore while staring at Ophelia with bloodshot eyes.

Ophelia added: "I'm sure I can remember her name, that former number six...Was it Haley? Hilly? Or maybe it was Hilda?"

"How dare you mention her name!" Miria yelled out of pure hatred as she pulled her claymore from the safety of its holster and pointed it threateningly at Ophelia's neck.

"I knew I remembered correctly! So which one was it? Which one of the names is correct? I think it was Hilly. Am I right?" Ophelia said mockingly, completely ignoring the razor sharp blade before her.

Miria stood in silence for a few passing seconds, still holding that menacing blade dangerously close to Ophelia's neck. It appeared that she managed to control the burst of anger that flooded her body a moment earlier, if only for a moment.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't strike you down right now."

"Hmmm let's see," Ophelia said in a casual tone, placing a hand on her chin and looking up into the sky as she began to think deeply. After a few seconds of thinking, she returned her gaze upon Miria and spoke: "Nope. Can't think of one. I guess you can strike me down now."

A smile came across Miria's face as she replied: "Wasn't it your philosophy that awakened beings no longer have a human mind? That they were just monsters deserving nothing but death? An awakened being such as yourself?"

Upon hearing these unexpected words from Miria, that sinister grin on Ophelia's face immediately left her. She gave the captain a glare of snakelike precision, not even taking the time to blink or make any facial expression whatsoever.

"You have a lot of nerve for calling me such a thing Phantom Miria," Ophelia hissed as she began to gradually pull her claymore from its back holster: "You better hope your skills with a blade are as good as the skills you have with your mouth."

"I can see that you wear the organisation's hybrid inform," Miria continued: "Do you wear it because you're in denial of your true nature? Why don't you stop lying to yourself and show us your true form."

An unprecedented silence loomed between the two warriors, but this silence was soon ended the moment a smile returned upon Ophelia's cold lips. Clare thought it was quite strange that Ophelia would react so positively to a subject she was so sensitive about over seven years ago. Casting her mind back to that battle she had with Ophelia, Clare could still remember the horror on the face of the now former number four the moment she realised her awakened status.

"It has been over seven years since I've last used that hideous form, and that was the first and last time I will ever use it."

Ophelia then lifted a brow at Miria and widened her smile as she continued: "But I can sense that you yourself are close to awakening. I can smell it on your skin, feel it in your aura, and see it in your eyes."

"Enough you two." Clare said with a confidence that even surprised herself.

Giving Clare a furious glare, Miria replied to the shorthaired warrior in an uncharacteristically vulgar manner: "Do not tell me what to do Clare. I will do whatever I see fit in this has nothing to do with you."

With the situation beginning to get out of hand, the hooded figure that stood beside Clare made her presence known by taking a step forward and drawing the attention of the captain.

"Phantom Miria, that is quite an interesting title." Irene spoke through the darkness of her hood.

"Reveal yourself." Miria ordered.

Irene placed both hands on either side of her hood and slowly peeled it off her head. She scanned the faces of the strangers that stood so threateningly around her for a moment, but returned her attention upon the captain shortly later.

"My name is Irene. I was the former number two of the organisation."

"Irene. That name does sound familiar. I've read of an Irene in the organisation's archives, the one sent to hunt down Teresa, and the one supposedly killed by Priscilla. I presume you are the same Irene?" Miria said.

"That would be correct, but don't believe everything you read in those archives."

The mood was suddenly tarnished by the sound of an old wooden door creaking open. All attention was immediately fixated on the figure with the long wavy hair that had just exited out of Clare's cabin. Teresa had an odd look to her face as she gazed upon the mass of warriors aligned before her, focusing most of her attention on the two newcomers.

The moment Irene set eyes on Teresa, Clare could see the sheer disbelief plastered across the face of the former number two. Her skin turned a shade paler and her eyes widened from sheer amazement of what stood before her. She did not blink, nor did she even appear to draw breath for a few seconds as she gazed upon the former number one.

"Isn't this a familiar site?" Teresa said, keeping her eyes upon a bewildered Irene: "Have you come to finnish the job you had failed all those years ago?"

Irene looked as though she tried her best to come up with a response, but it was all too obvious that her body was frozen solid from sheer shock. Her surprise was so great, it seemed to actually effect the motor controls of her own body.

"D...o...do...my eyes deceive me?...Teresa?" She finally said, almost chocking on her own words.

"It's good to see you again old friend." Teresa replied, though looking quite surprised herself to see her old comrade.

"How? How is this possible? I saw you die with my own eyes!"

"I do hope you're not here to try and take my head again Irene. I do not wish to kill you." Teresa said as she began to walk towards her former comrade.

"Even If that was my mission, I would not even attempt it." Irene replied in a calmer voice, looking as if her mind finally wrapped around the idea that the legendary warrior stood before her once more.

"And why is that?" Teresa asked curiously as she stopped in front of her old comrade.

"Underestimating you has always been the biggest mistake I, or anyone else has ever made. I do not wish to make that mistake again."

"You flatter me Irene. But I wonder how all these years have affected your own strength?"

"Teresa..." Irene said in a sudden serious tone, bobbing her head dramatically towards the ground.

Teresa nodded her head as a gesture for Irene to continue.

"Where have you been all these years? I've heard nothing of you, not a trace or even the faintest of whispers."

Teresa folded her arms and let out a large sigh. She soared a glance at Clare for a moment, but returned it back to Irene a moment later: "I did die," she said: "Priscilla did take my life. But the organisation has brought be back into this world only a few days ago."

"Priscilla? Did you say Priscilla?" Ophelia asked curiously.

"Indeed I did." Teresa responded, although not having a clue whom this warrior was.

"Reviving a wounded warrior is one thing, but I was not aware the organisation is able to reanimate an entire corpse." Irene said.

Teresa lifted a brow at Irene: "Are you calling me a corpse?"

A ghostly look settled upon Irene's face as she responded: "Teresa. You died. Your blood was splattered in the dirt and your head removed from your neck. There should be no coming back from such an ordeal."

Irene's words left a bone-chilling silence among the newly formed group. There was no sound except the ambience of the wind gently playing with the trees, and the swaying of the overgrown grass residing near their feet. Indeed what Irene had said was true. Teresa had died a gruesome death. A death that should have confined her to the land of the dead.

"So you too huh? Yet another victim of the one horned beast...Priscilla." Ophelia hissed.

Teresa's face instantly turned sour. She set her sight upon Ophelia and stared at her with an unprecedented interest.

"Identify yourself." Teresa ordered.

"Oh of course, where are my manners? I am the former number four, Ophelia."

"Ophelia...that name does sound familiar..." Teresa said as she turned to look at an uncomfortable looking Clare.

The tense mood was suddenly shattered by the sound of footsteps created by a pair of heavy metal boots towards the western side of the group. As the group gazed upon the figure, they were greeted to the sight of Raki as he stared suspiciously at the newcomers in the centre of the camp. Next to him stood a much more slender Audrey, who herself looked quite nervous about the strange presence among them. He lifted a brow the moment he recognised Ophelia, but it wasn't long until that curiosity turned into rage.

"It's...it's you! You're the one from back then!" he yelled furiously while drawing his weapon.

"Clare, tell me what's going on, what is he talking about?" Teresa asked with great concern in her voice.

"It seems i'm quite popular around here." Ophelia said while jerking her head off to the side proudly.

"Don't you think i've forgotten what you did! You're going to pay for that!" He yelled again, taking a step closer towards Ophelia.

"Such an annoying man you are...but quite a handsome one at that. And a man with a yoki aura, how interesting." Ophelia said as she gazed at him curiously.

"Raki, now is not the time." Clare said, although sounding quite unsure why she did so.

"How can you say that Clare! "You do realise who this is? What she did to us?"

Flickering her gaze between Raki and Clare, Ophelia seemed to fall into a deeper and deeper level of interest. The look on her face made it seem that she wasn't quite sure of something, that she had the pieces of the puzzle but couldn't quite figure it out just yet. A wicked smile beamed across her face the moment she seemed to recall her meeting with him just over seven years ago.

"That look in your eyes, i've seen it before," She hissed excitingly with a satisfied grin on her face, looking as if the memory of her actions brought her physical pleasure: "You were that young boy from back then! The one determined to defeat me and protect Clare! The one who bled but showed no signs of slowing down!"

Expecting the worst, Clare turned to see the reaction of Teresa. The wavy haired warrior stood as still as a statue with her face lost to shock. It was clear that her mind was teaming with thoughts, and there was no doubt that vengeance was among them. Clare wanted to act before things got out of hand, but noticed that it was already too late the moment Raki poked his claymore dangerously close to Ophelia's neck.

Raki was quite a large man, solidly built and easily standing at least a foot taller than most warriors. He held the weapon as though he was chiselled from solid marble, seemingly uninfected by the great weight it obviously bore on to his muscles. The tip of the blade remained remarkably still, with not even the faintest of shakes, a testament to his newfound strength.

"I was small and weak back then, but now I have grown into a capable warrior. What you did was unforgivable, and I should end this here and now." he grumbled.

With a smile on her face Ophelia responded: "Your eyes. They're the same as before. The eyes you had the moment you saw me put my hands on your Clare! It's priceless! Hey, are you going to seek vengeance? Attempt to strike me down with your newfound strength? Then show me what you got."

The entire group gasped when Raki unexpectedly threw his weapon off to the side, leapt forward, and rammed his fist into the side of Ophelia's face. The gruesome sound of bone shattering raced into the ears of all the spectators as the unsuspecting warrior was thrown off balance by the colossal blow. Clare, like all the others, was left frozen solid from astonishment. The once scrawny young man that followed her in her travels had blossomed into a truly powerful warrior.

Rubbing the side of her wounded face, Ophelia eventually recovered from the blow as she managed to get back on her two feet. Her jaw had been shattered almost to the point of it becoming unrecognisable as bits of flesh and bone hung from strands of loose skin. The side of her face had been slightly pushed in, making it clear that part of her skull had been fractured, or worst.

Of course, being an awakened being in human form, it only took a few seconds until ophelia's body regenerated the wound. From beneath her skin, the very bones that shaped her face twisted and bent in inhumane ways until the recognisable face of Ophelia had returned. Clare wasn't sure if Awakened beings felt pain as hybrid do, but if they did, that punch would have hurt. A lot.

"That was for seven years ago." Raki said as he massaged his right fist.

Even though the punch caused a devastating wound upon her, the reaction, or lack of a reaction from Ophelia made it seem as if nothing happened at all. The blood soaked warrior merely responded with an intrigued stare, looking as if her eyes had been seduced by the passionate hatred that burnt so clearly within the young man before her. It almost seemed as if she had gotten a twisted pleasure from the ordeal.

"Such a strong man you've become! That was a brilliant punch! It's as if you're a different person! It's so exciting!" Ophelia spurted hysterically.

Seeing Ophelia react so positively must have been deeply humiliating to Raki, and it clearly showed on his face. At first he seemed surprised, then disappointed, and finally, deeply annoyed. But despite this, it appeared as though he knew where to stop. Lowering his fist, he mustered the courage to just walk away and not give Ophelia the satisfaction of losing his anger again. Clare was both glad and proud of Raki for acting the way he did. In some ways, he was far braver than her.

"A male Hybrid?" Irene said with a great curiosity as she gazed upon Raki.

"Not completely correct. He is technically a new species." the voice of a little girl could be heard from behind the party.

"This oughta be interesting..." Teresa said quietly while making a face palm, preparing herself for the chaos that was to come.

Both Irene and Ophelia immediately turned around to see a little girl standing before them with long brown hair wearing nothing but torn old rags. She wore a friendly smile and stood in a very casual manner, watching them closely with her rather ordinary looking eyes. It didn't take long until Irene released a gasp the moment she saw something sinister and hideous hidden beneath those childlike windows of hers. Something so hideous, it could only be one thing.

"What the hell is this Teresa?" Irene said nervously while taking a step backwards in fear: "You...do know who that is?"

"Quite powerful pet you have there." Ophelia gritted.

"If you think that's surprising Irene...wait until you see 'her'." Teresa said while pointing behind Irene.

"See who?"

Clare almost choked when she suddenly took notice of Priscilla towards her far left side, standing only a small distance away from the group next to one of the cabins. The timid looking girl remained completely silent as she eyed the back of Irene with an unrivalled precision. There was an unfathomable level of silence as Irene slowly turned around, and set her sight upon her former comrade, Priscilla. Yet again, Irene's eyes shot wide open, with that ghostly white paleness making its mark on her skin. But unlike the surprise she had with Teresa, there was an abyssal fear evident in the reflection of her eyes, a fear that seemed to penetrate deep into her soul. Strands of sweat began to form on her brow, and that almost perfect composure ruined by electrifying shivers that ran down her spine. Clare had not seen Irene in such a a state before, but she wasn't surprised in the slightest. Priscilla had murdered Irene's comrades in the past, and almost killed the warrior herself.

Irene began to take a few shaky steps backwards, almost tripping over herself as she mentally tried to find comfort in increasing the distance between her greatest nightmare and herself. Ophelia on the other hand, just stood her ground, giving Priscilla a hawklike stare.

"Who are you?." Priscilla said softly to Irene.

"Impossible..."

"Two awakened beings? What the hell is going on here." Ophelia stammered.

"I recognise your face. You are very familiar to me. Someone from long ago." Priscilla added while gradually making her way towards a petrified Irene.

Irene immediately turned to an uncomfortable looking Clare with a face that demanded answers. Her eyes now escalated into a whirlwind of uncertainty, a twisted mess of emotions stuck somewhere on the border of fear and confusion.

"Don't ask. All that you have to know is that she is not a threat as of now." Clare said.

Irene then returned her attention back to the front, and almost jumped in alarm when she noticed Priscilla now standing right in front of her. The two former warriors stared into each others eyes, with one petrified beyond all reasoning and the other supposedly trying to piece back her memories.

Then, finally, a slim smile could be seen on Priscilla's lips as she took a step backwards and spoke:

"Hello Irene."

"P...Priscilla." Irene managed to say.

The moment Irene said that name, Clare instantly noticed Ophelia's jaw shoot wide open, and thick veins form on the surface of her skin. No doubt, there was so much emotion boiling within her, it was impossible for a single one to be the dominant element. The white in her eyes morphed into a blood red, and her knuckles as white as bone. She began to breathe hysterically, and her body shake as if it were burred under a mountain of freezing cold ice. Eventually that maze of emotion revealed itself to be gruesome hatred, and it was a hatred Clare understood more than anybody else within the group. Clare didn't know how to react when Ophelia gave her a vindictive stare, a stare that screamed of betrayal, mistrust, and of sheer disbelief.

"Priscilla. Former number two within the organisation. Awakened during a battle with the former number one and came to be known as the one horned beast." Clare said boldly to Ophelia, taking a moment to think of her next words carefully: "The one whom you've devoted your entire life to killing. It is her that stands before you."

Ophelia was drunk with rage as she stared at her mortal enemy. Her body was so hopelessly overwhelmed with the hideous emotion, that she began to shake from the sheer weight it bore upon her. Parts of her flesh began to awaken, ripping and morphing the surface of her body in inhumane ways.

"Priscilla killed someone dear to you?" Miria said, taking a step closer between the two: "And just how many innocent lives have you silenced in cold blood Ophelia? Brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers, all victims of your total disregard for life. Priscilla may have done some terrible things as an awakened being, but she only acted on instinct and done as her body commanded. But you kill for your own pleasure. Kill for no good reason whatsoever. Kill to satisfy that sick, twisted void in your past. As far as i'm concerned, Priscilla is the lesser of two evils."

"Ophelia calm down. Calm down before you lose yourself again." Irene said.

"You wish to kill me. I can see it in your eyes," Priscilla spoke as she began to walk towards Ophelia with an almost mocking confidence.

In a flash, Ophelia swung her blade towards the awakened being in an uppercut, but her blade was easily caught by Priscilla's right arm in mid air. Given how fast Priscilla was, Clare was amazed when she noticed drops of blood dripping from the hand that had caught the blade. It appeared as if Ophelia managed to accelerate her blade fast enough that not even Priscilla had ample time to catch it without getting cut herself. The wound to her hand wasn't deep, but it was a wound nonetheless. Ophelia truly had become quite powerful within these past seven years, but was she powerful enough to take on the one horned beast?

"I'm surprised you managed to cut me. I will have to be more careful next time." Priscilla said as she watched her own blood drip onto the grass below.

Ophelia tried to swing her blade again, but it appeared as if she didn't possess the strength to pull it free from Priscilla's monstrous grip. Realising this, she let go of the hilt and proceeded to swing a volley of punches and kicks towards Priscilla like a crazed animal, thought none of her attacks seemed to be effective at all. Most of them were just simply dodged, or countered in clever ways.

"I'm not sure what it is I did to you exactly, but I would like to find out if you don't mind." Priscilla said before knocking Ophelia into the air with a powerful punch to the chest, causing her to soar though the air until she finally landed in the dirt a small distance away. The ghosts could only watch on as the crazed warrior dragged herself to her feet.

"Brother was so kind, so caring... but he was weak. Why was he so weak? Why did he have to die? He knew he would die, yet he allowed himself to die. To save me. How stupid! Why would anyone do that?"

As Ophelia continued to babble on hysterically, Clare couldn't help but notice something odd about her. As she looked closely upon her face, she noticed tears running down Ophelia's face. Compassion was a difficult emotion for Clare to feel about this warrior, but pain was pain nonetheless. Ophelia had lost someone dear to her many years ago, and perhaps this loss was the root of her insanity.

Finally finding the courage to speak out, Clare yelled: "Ophelia stop this! What will killing Priscilla do? Nothing. Living your life solely for revenge is not a life worth living at all. Trust me, I would know. If you continue this hostility you will surely be killed."

"I'm sorry for whatever I did to you. Can we be friends?" Priscilla said with an almost childlike innocence to her.

The fury engraved upon Ophelia's face immediately vanished and was replaced with a deep, perplexed stare instead. Priscilla's strange words were no doubt poison to her, but hearing such an absurd statement must have been deeply puzzling even for a mad mind. A wicked smile came across Ophelia's face, and not much later, that smile transformed into a hysterical laugh. Nobody was quite sure what was going through Ophelia's mind at that moment in time, but whatever that was, it ended almost as soon as it started. The smile quickly left her and bulging veins beneath her skin began to pulsate yet again as the rage within her returned to the unprecedented levels it had been before.

"Friends? We can only be friends when your body hits the floor and I bathe in the warmness of your disgusting purple blood."

"Ophelia, if you don't calm down, i'm going to have to knock you unconscious." Irene warned.

"Shut your mouth Irene. You have nothing to do with this!" Ophelia snapped.

"You dare speak to me in such a manner..."

The commotion had proven to be too much for the wavy haired warrior to handle, and she decided to show this by marching up to Ophelia and giving her a chilling stare. Clare could tell that Teresa wasn't afraid of the fuming being before her, nor was she even the slightest bit intimidated. Ophelia may be a powerful awakened being, but Teresa was a certified awakened being exterminator. If anything, Ophelia was just a minor inconvenience to her and nothing more.

"You're giving me a headache." Teresa said, pushing her face to within an inch of Ophelia's.

The moment Ophelia attempted to lash out at Teresa, the wavy haired warrior countered with a kick to her head, sending her flying backwards just as Priscilla did before. A dust cloud formed when Ophelia met with the cold dirt, and shards of stone and rock scattered around the epicentre. As the dust cloud began to settle, Ophelia could be seen on her knees with a hand holding on to the side of her face. A river of purple blood ran down her neck, staining her uniform and forming into a pool below her feet.

"Now listen to me very carefully," Teresa warned, crossing her arms to make her irritation clear: "I've been having a good day until you came along, and I don't appreciate someone like you ruining that for me. I care not for your pathetic existence, nor the revenge you so desperately seek. I don't know much about you, but what I do know is that Clare doesn't like you, and if Clare doesn't like you, then I 'really' don't like you. We have enough enemies to deal with, and if you prove to be yet another, then I will gladly dispose of you and smile as I do so."

Ophelia didn't seem happy being spoken too in such a manner, but it seemed as if her sanity had finally returned. Her mutating body began to revert back to normal. Her bulging veins, claws and other monstrous appendages disappeared underneath her skin. Clare could tell that she had been very close to transforming into her true awakened form, but somehow found the willpower to stop.

"Brother...you died for nothing. You gave your life so mine could be spared. But look at me now. I've become the very thing you tried to protect me from." Ophelia babbled on all fours.

"You can still avenge your brother Ophelia. The organisation is ultimately responsible for all this, and none of us will stop until they are put to justice. We could always use another sword. Will you come with us?" Clare said.

Upon hearing this, Ophelia raised her head and locked her eyes on to Clare. The tears that ran down her face had dried, leaving only a trail of salt in their wake. She had a look of revelation to her, as if her mind had finally escaped the torrent of rage that had threatened to drown her a moment earlier.

"A small group of warriors...embarking on a suicide mission to destroy that which created them. No doubt this will be suicide..."

"If you think it's too dangerous..." Clare said before being interrupted.

"I can't think of anything else more exciting."

"So you're in?"

Ophelia rose to her feet and grabbed her fallen claymore. She swung the weapon behind herself and planted it in its holster on her back.

"I'll take any excuse to fight. Especially if its personal."

"Glad you could join us. So now your officially a rebel like us." Clare said.

"Ophelia and I were officially Rebels for a long time." Irene said to the great surprise of all.

A gasp or two were heard among the group, and all heads were suddenly drawn to the warrior in the dark brown cloak. Irene took a few steps towards the centre of the group before she continued: "Do you honestly believe this group is the only one trying to bring the organisation down?"

Irene took a short pause to gaze at all the perplexed faces around her. Nobody made the smallest of movements, nor the faintest of sounds. The sharp stares she received made it painfully obvious that they were all eager to hear more of what she had to say. Even Teresa seemed intrigued, something Irene thought she would never witness from the once emotionless warrior.

"There are things you probably do not know about this world," Irene continued: "things the organisation have hidden from us for so long. You might have already suspected, but this land we are standing on is but a mere fragment of the world we occupy. What i'm offering is a chance to find out for yourself, an opportunity to explore the world our kind has been denied for generations. This island, along with other islands, is nothing but a laboratory to create the perfect weapon for an ongoing war."

"Perhaps it's better if we don't find out what's really out there." Audrey said nervously, biting the top of her lip: "Perhaps life on one of these seven islands is a blessing in disguise. Do we really want to be apart of a war that does't concern us?"

"I never said anything about seven islands..." Irene said.

Bands of sweat began to form on Audrey's brow as a horde of skeptical eyes set upon her. Her movements became erratic, and face flushed in a bright red, making her nervousness all the more apparent.

"Well...well, it...was just..."

"What else haven't you told us?" Teresa said mistrustfully.

"I...i don't know what to say..."

"How about you admit you're a traitor?"

"I have no such intentions!" Audrey cried out of desperation: "My allegiances lie with you entirely!"

Giving Audrey a mean stare, Teresa continued: "This isn't the first time this has happened. I don't appreciate liars."

Caught in a corner, Audrey turned to Raki as a desperate plea for help, but was left out in the cold when it seemed that even he questioned her loyalty. He didn't even return her stare, looking as if he was lost in deep thought. The seconds that passed seemed more like hours. When he finally turned to her, his eyes didn't reflect her image the way they used to.

"Is there anything else you didn't tell us Audrey?...is it true you are working against us?" he asked gloomily.

Her reply was slow: "I knew about the islands...and the event held in the mainland, but in no way did I mean to deceive you by not mentioning of it. I...just think it's a terrible idea to go to the mainland. I believe that some things are just not meant to be known."

"I believe you." he replied with a faint smile.

Realising the moment was over, Miria turned her attention upon Irene yet again. She cleared her throat as she spoke: "Go on Irene. Continue what you were saying."

"The organisation holds a special event every two to three years on the mainland. During this time, each one of the seven islands sends only their best warriors to this event to engage in a competition. The purpose of this event is to determine the most suitable combatants to send off into a war that is currently ravaging this world."

"So what are you trying to say?"

"This group has been selected from this island."

"You cannot be serious," Miria said in a disbelieving tone, clearly not taking what Irene said seriously: "The organisation has been trying to get rid of us for years. It makes no sense for them to send us there now."

"Indeed, you are right, it would make no sense for the organisation to do so."

"So if the organisation isn't behind this, then who is?" Clare asked.

Irene smiled to herself for a moment: "Have you ever heard of the expression: 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'?"

"The enemy of the organisation...You mean the Dragonkin?" Miria asked.

"You are very well informed. Yes, that is what the organisation calls them."

"Forgive me for feeling a little skeptical Irene, but i'm finding it difficult to trust someone who tried to kill me in the past. Teresa said.

"Your scepticism is an understandable reaction Teresa, but I have no reason to deceive you or anyone of you. I abandoned the organisation long before most of you were even born, and have lived in isolation for most of my life. I've seen the mainland with my own eyes, and the war that is tearing it apart. I've seen the warriors from the other islands. I was skeptical at first as well, but now my eyes are open."

"I think I have a pretty good idea who's idea it was to send us to the mainland. It was Rubel's wasn't it? He works for the dragonkin." Clare said.

"You are correct. It was he who ordered Ophelia and I to retrieve this group."

"But why would the Dragonkin want us to compete in this event? How would this help their cause?" Miria asked.

Both Irene and Ophelia smiled to themselves: "I suppose they are hoping we will cause the organisation some trouble by not playing by the rules they enforced there. Possibly engaging in some sabotage, killing some of the top officials, or perhaps just ruining the event entirely. Your guess is as good as mine."

"Lucky for the dragonkin, causing trouble is my specialty." Ophelia said with a sly grin.

if you liked, or disliked the chapter, then please take your time to review. it's the least you could do for me :) reviews make an author feel as if his/her work is being recognised, which will ultimately lead to faster updates.

i hope you all had a happy new years and an awesome start to 2011!


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Well, i'm not dead and dont you ever think that i am. I will finnish this story don't you guys fret.

i've just been real busy with school and work and girls lol.

anways, this story deserves to be finnished, so here is the next chapter. :P

* * *

A seemingly endless array of leaves and branches brushed against Raki's body as he marched through the solitude of the forest. The air was thick with moisture, and the bright rays of the sun were long choked out by the thick fog of vegetation that engulfed him. Navigating through this dense mass was next to impossible, even for someone with his abilities, but he refused to give in. He was determined to find her, and nothing was going to stop him.

His mind constantly bounced back and forth, not sure whether to believe that she had been lying to him the entire time, or if she was in fact telling the truth. He wanted to believe her innocence, but the thought of betrayal loomed deeply in the back of his mind. It was entirely possible that that she had been a rogue agent the entire time, with their meeting planned from the start. Was there a lie hidden behind each one of her smiles? Was her true agenda nothing but of deception? Were the feelings they shared even real? The others in the group were always suspect of her, making him feel as if he had been blind the entire time. Perhaps the answer was painfully obvious to an outside observer. Was he still that naïve?

His heart began to flutter with excitement when he saw a glimpse of her hair through a small gap in a bush before him. Brushing the bush off to the side, he could see Audrey standing in a small clearing in the forest, free of any pesky bushes or other overgrown vegetation. She stood with her back turned to him, gently illuminated by the few rays of sunlight that managed to penetrate the thick canopy above her. As he continued to stare at her, the initial excitement within him began to die down more and more when the grim reality began to settle back in.

He didn't know what to think. Would an innocent person run into the forest when accused of something they didn't do? Perhaps she felt overwhelmingly guilty for her actions, or perhaps she had lured him here to lead him into an ambush.

"Audrey..." Raki said warily, taking careful, calculated steps as he gradually moved towards her.

As she turned around to face him, Raki was greeted with a pair of frosty, emotionless eyes that glimmered a brilliant silver in the suns rays. Though she tried to hide it, there was a sadness to her face. A lifeless look that covered a layer of misery and pain.A face he knew all too well.

"Audrey, tell me what's going on..."

"I was hoping you weren't going to follow me," She said, looking off to the side as if completely ignoring his presence. Then, a smile came across her face as she added: "How naïve of me to hope for such things?"

"What aren't you telling me?" He demanded.

A short moment of silence enveloped, leaving them to their own individual thoughts. Neither knew exactly what to say to the other, but that silence had to end sooner of later, and it was Audrey who put it to an end as she said:"I've got things to take care of Raki...and I don't want you to follow me."

"Is it because you lied to me? because you're a traitor and a lair?" He said boldly.

Audrey's face degraded in sadness the moment she heard those spiteful words. It was obvious that she wasn't expecting, or wasn't properly prepared for him to attack her in such a manner. She eventually managed to compose herself, forcibly reverting her face back to its soldier-perfect nature: "Believe me Raki, I don't want to do this, but I feel that I must."

"If you leave now...I can't trust you anymore. Don't make me do that Audrey."

A weak smile came across her lips as she stared at him in an hypnotic manner, analysing his comment carefully.

"It...It's better that way." She stuttered.

Grinding his teeth together from sheer frustration, Raki replied: "I can't let you leave...I can't allow you to endanger those that are important to me."

"So are you going to stop me Raki?"

"I will if I have to."

It was then when Raki noticed a tiny twinkle in the corner of one of Audrey's eyes. That twinkle revealed the unforgettable reflection of a tear that now ran down so clearly down the side of her face. The reflection was so small it could have even been attributed to his imagination, but if it was real, then what did it mean? Was the tear an indication of regret? Was there something more to her strange behaviour?

"Raki...can you promise me something?"

"I'm not sure a promise with you means anything anymore."

Upon hearing this, Audrey's statue-still posture ended when she began to take small careful steps towards him. There was no suspicion to the way she walked, no sinister intention hidden behind her face, or at least, that he could see. Perhaps though, he had become blind. Perhaps the others could clearly see the traitor within her and it was only him who couldn't. The thought of her playing him like this was unforgivable, and also deeply insulting to him. There is no greater pain than betrayal.

As she stopped before him, their faces were but mere inches apart, escalating the tension and the sea of emotions to its peak. He wasn't sure why he didn't take a step backwards and deny a chance of this close proximity between them, but it seemed that he still felt strongly for her. He could smell the pleasant aroma of her hair, and feel the warmness of her breath, but he refused to be allured by such mundane things. There was however, one thing he found himself allured to. There was a smile on her face, it was weak but still there. She moved her lips dangerously close to his, begging to be touched, but that tension was never satisfied. Their lips never came in contact, just merely engaged in a sensual dance before each other. It seemed as if neither were willing to make that final push.

"Promise you won't follow me." she said as she slithered her face back and looked into his eyes.

"You know I can't do that Audrey"

"I know..." she replied sadly, lowering her face towards the ground.

"Tell me what's on your mind..."

The response he got from her was one he wasn't expecting.

There was no time for Raki to think when Audrey suddenly thrust her face towards his and locked her lips against his. He instinctively began to wrap his arms her, but found the willpower to stop midway when he realised how wrong the kiss was . He was about to pull away from her, but the moment Audrey planted a hand against his cheek, he suddenly found his resistance futile. A guilty pleasure tingled through Raki's body as his mind flooded with a torrent of clashing thoughts. Was is wrong for him to enjoy the kiss of a possible enemy? Someone who he had grown to trust but had been deceiving him the entire time?

As she was about to break away from the kiss, Raki felt a sudden blow to the side of his head, and everything instantly fell into darkness.

* * *

The next time Raki opened his eyes, he found himself lying in a bed in what seemed to be the entirior of some kind of vessel. His recollection of the events in the forest was deeply blurred, and he had no idea how long he'd been out, but he was determined to find out. With haste he pulled himself out of bed but froze when he noticed Clare in the room. She stood next to an open window, with her eyes drawn to the outside. Her hair swayed hopelessly in the gentle breeze, and her once pale skin illuminated by the warming touch of the suns rays. For a moment there, Raki thought Clare looked like an angel. A living deity captured in the form of a woman, radiating a blinding array of celestial light that engulfed his eyes.

The surreal nature of the situation made him think he was dreaming, or had been hit in the head far too hard for his own good. But there was something about this Clare that made him feel at peace. It reminded him of the time when he didn't just see Clare as his friend, but his Savior and protector. The only one that protected him from the world, and made it possible for him to be alive today. It didn't take long however, until the celestial light began to fade from her, and his vision return to normal.

"You should be more careful Raki." Clare said.

"Where am I?

"We're on a ship headed to the mainland. At least, that's where Irene says it goes."

"So what happened to me?"

"You tell me, I wasn't there with you." She replied, moving her attention off him and towards the circular window to her right.

Raki sat back down against the side of his bed and took a deep breath to clear his dizzy mind. Thinking about what Clare said, he tried to recollect all his fragmented memories about his time with Audrey in the forest.

"Audrey...she left...and."

"Forget her Raki," Clare said as she walked over to him: "She deceived us and took you for a fool. I can't believe I let her do that to you."

"No Clare its not your fault. I can't believe that I allowed danger to come upon everyone by dragging Audrey along despite your obvious disapproval from the start. I was selfish."

A smile came across Clare's lips as she glimpsed at his guilty ridden face. In an attempt to comfort him, she proceeded to sit next to him, but was pleasantly surprised when it was actually him to comfort her, wrapping his arms around her tightly. Though she tried her best not to, she found her eyes involuntarily scanning the contours of his body. From his strong muscular arms, to his chiselled perfect shoulders.

"Come outside with me Raki." she said, breaking the embrace, grabbing his hand and heading out the door.

They left the room and now walked down a narrow railway along the side of a large ship sailing in an ocean of water. The field of blue was overwhelming to the eyes, without the faintest sign of green even in the foregrounds. The wind was strong, yet gentle. And the pleasant aroma of the ocean filled the air around them.

"There's been something i've been wondering" she said, stopping to a halt and placing her hands along the railings.

"What is it?"

She turned her attention off the water and set her eyes upon him. With an almost childish innocence, she said: "Do you find me desirable Raki?"

"Find you...desirable?" He responded, eyes widened from sheer surprise.

"Yes. In the same way that you found Audrey desirable, how a man would feel for his woman."

"Why are you asking me this Clare?" he asked, lowering his head to make clear his discomfort in the topic.

"Am I not as appealing as her?"

He remained awestruck as he stared at those fascinatingly attractive eyes he had always admired. The wind played gently with each strand of hair as it danced in the wind, a vision that rendered his lips frozen solid for a moment. Eventually he found the strength to tell her the honest truth.

"Clare...I've always found you appealing, very much so in fact. But i've always tried to hide these feelings because I never thought you would feel the same way."

"And why do you think this way?" she asked in astonishment.

"I've never really felt good enough for you. I'll always be that little boy saved by the Claymore...by you. I owe more to you than I can ever hope to repay, and to think that you would ever feel the same way about me is insulting."

"We all have to start somewhere Raki," she said with an encouraging smile: "I think you're forgetting that I myself was saved by Teresa when I was a girl. So we aren't so different after all."

He then turned to face her with a cheeky grin:

"I don't see how this could be possibly relevant to out mission Clare."

"N...no...of course not... " she replied in a manner that made her sound slightly nervous.

"Don't worry Clare, I feel the same way towards you."

Clare's face lit up the moment she heard those frighteningly hypnotic words, but managed to put herself together shortly later:

"I was just curious in general. Nothing to worry about." she said, trying her best to contain her intense interest in the subject.

He placed his hand on top of hers as it rested on the railing, sparking the faintest of blushes from her cheeks. Her hand was icy cold, but still soft to the touch. The two of them looked into each others eyes for a moment, sending a smile the other way.

"It's getting late...We need our rest," Clare said as she slipped her hand from under his, and took one last glance upon his face before turning around and heading down the railway, towards the front of the ship.

* * *

With her hands resting over the railings, Clare stood in the solitude of the ships bow. The wind was the strongest here, and it played mercilessly with her chin length hair, often brushing the tips against her eyelids. An endless mass of water covered her view, making her feel so insignificant in comparison. But she didn't mind. This was the once place she found most peaceful.

"I thought you were heading to your room." a voice whispered behind her.

"I was, but I don't think I can sleep." Clare replied, not even bothering to turn around, already knowing who it was.

"Is Raki doing well?"

"Don't ask me questions you already know the answer to. I know you were listening in to our conversation a moment ago."

"I really didn't mean to..." Priscilla said as she made her way towards the railings until she stood right next to a surprisingly calm Clare. She looked upon her face and saw that the warrior was clearly lost to deep thought.

"I never imagined such a thing to be possible," Priscilla said as she gazed at the ocean: "To be surrounded by so much water and never know what's really out there."

A short moment passed until Clare broke her trail of thought and looked at Priscilla through the corner of her eye.

"That's exactly what the organisation wanted. A controlled experiment with no outside disruptions. A place where they can control us. It really puts things in perspective."

"Perspective?"

"All the battles we've ever fought," Clare continued: "Our entire lives, were all for nothing. You and I...are all nothing but pawns in the grande scheme of things. Whatever happened on that island behind us is meaningless in comparison. We are all victims of this injustice."

Clare's words left Priscilla speechless.

"Teresa told me that she never knew you back then...is that true?" Clare asked.

"Yes, it's true. I've never really had the pleasure of meeting her until..." Priscilla said, though quickly changing the subject to avoid the conversation from turning sour:"How did it come to be that Teresa came to take care of a young human girl?"

"I'm not entirely sure how it happened..."

"I suppose you must be special in one way or another."

"Special?" Clare asked surprised.

"Yes. Special. It was unheard of to think that the likes of Teresa of the Faint Smile would care for someone other than herself. The warrior who smiled when killing her foes."

Clare let out a slight grunt, though still obviously wanting Priscilla to go on.

"Before I even had an official rank, they always told me I was strong...that I had great potential... they even said that I would once surpass even Teresa. But I wasn't ready to have that kind of expectation. I rose through the ranks quickly, eventually surpassing Sophia, Noel, Irene and given the number 'two' rank. When I heard from Irene that Teresa killed humans, I could barely believe it."

Priscilla then let out a faded smile as she continued: "I didn't want to pick up a sword against a comrade, but because she had broken the iron Clad rule, it was my duty to silence her. It was unforgivable for any one of us to betray the trust of humans."

Drawing an intense stare from Clare, Priscilla continued:

"The first time I laid eyes on Teresa, she was thrust out of a shattered in, heading back-first towards me with a little girl in her arms. I should have stricken while she was distracted and facing away from me, but I just couldn't do it. I just stood there and watched on as she landed on her feet and quickly took notice of me."

"Yes I know how the rest played out." Clare said irritably.

"Yes...off course."

Flinging her face off to the side to make her displeasure clear, Clare let out a sigh as she said:

"Look, I understand what you did was nothing personal, but that doesn't change the past. Teresa was the only friend I had in the world, and when she was gone, i've never felt so lonely. It's one thing to be lonely, then another to be lonely and given a taste of happiness for a short moment, only for it to be ripped away from you. I appreciate that you took care of Raki, or rather, from what I heard, he took care of you...but nevertheless, I still appreciate it. So if it means anything... I no longer want to kill you...as much."

A beam set across Priscilla's face as she placed a hand on Clare's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

"But don't touch me." Clare said, shrugging of Priscilla's arm in an unusual light-hearted manner, though being perfectly serious about it.

* * *

Hours had passed since Clare had left, leaving Priscilla to stand alone in this empty part of the ship, braving the chilly winds that blew harshly against her. It was so cold in fact, that small droplets of water began to freeze around her hands as she held on to the metal railings. Being an awakened being of course, the cold was almost none existent to her. She knew that the weather was unpleasant, but she just couldn't feel the chillness against her skin. She was immune to such things. Sometimes, she wished she wasn't, just to experience the sensation again.

_I still find it difficult to believe that little girl in Teresa's arms was Clare..._

Her thoughts were disrupted however, when she felt the presence of a familiar warrior approach her from behind.

"Priscilla you have gotten stronger than I ever deemed possible." Irene said, stopping at the railing right next to her.

Priscilla, the noticeably shorter of the two, looked more like a frightened little girl in contrast to Irene. She wore a very casual looking suit made of black linen stitched together with dark leather. While her former team leader was covered entirely in a modified version of the organisations infamous battle suit. Instead of the grey and silver colours, the plating on the armour was as black as coal, harshly reflecting the delicate streams of light of the moon.

"I killed Noel and Sofia..." Priscilla whimpered.

"Yes. You annihilated them. And you almost did the same to me. I was most fortunate to survive."

"I honestly can't even remember that far back. It's like my mind is clouded in a harsh mist."

Clearing her throat, Irene changed the tone of her voice to imply her seriousness: "You have to tell me something Priscilla."

"What is it Irene?" Priscilla asked curiously.

"Do you push the limits of what Teresa is capable of? Do you surpass even her?"

After waiting a moment for her response, Irene's impatience got the best of her;

"I have always known that Teresa was the most powerful of all of us," Irene said, getting progressively more irritated as she went on: "But no matter how many times i've seen her fight, no matter how many times i've fought her, Teresa never revealed her true power. She is in her own league, with no other capable to contest her. I've known her for so many years and it's infuriating that i've never been able to measure that power. To see how I compare in perspective."

"You and Teresa were competitive?"

A scoff could be heard as irene continued: "If you can call it that. There really was never a doubt Teresa was at a level I could only dream of at the time."

"Were you two close?"

"Teresa was always the kind that preferred to be alone, and I was much the same. The only difference between us was that because of my inferior capabilities, I was forced to rely on the aid of comrades and Teresa was not. Even when she was paired with others, Teresa would just abandon her team mates and complete whatever mission was given herself."

Irene then lowered her head and released a weak smile as she set her mind back: "I remember one day I asked her why she was so arrogant and unwilling to work as a team, and her answer was simple: "_Too much of a nuisance"_

Looking upon the awestruck Priscilla, Irene released a sigh as she added:

"So...does she appear out of even your grasp?"

"No, I think i'm a little stronger at the moment." Priscilla said.

"So Teresa finally meets her match..."

"I guess..."

"Did you force Teresa to her knees?" Irene asked curiously, gazing upon the face of a deeply uncomfortable looking Priscilla.

The look on Priscilla's face was all the Irene needed. A satisfied grin developed on her face, but disappeared shortly later.

"I was given these pills before the mission, but had no idea what they were for. I now understand." Irene said as she pulled out three small purple pills from one of her many pockets: "Take this pill and give the other two to the abyssal one, Riful and her man. I do not wish to deliver it myself.."

"What are they for?"

Grabbing one of the pills from her palm, and holding it before Priscilla, Irene continued:

"These are a prototype pill that will temporarily reverse the awakening process of an awakened being. The effects are immediate and have been known to last as long as a full week. However, it has never been tested with an awakened as powerful as yourself."

"So if I take this...I will be human again?"Priscilla asked sheepishly.

"Do not be a fool Priscilla, of course it will do none of the such. It will merely morph your body back to when It was a hybrid, exactly how it was before you awakened. I suppose you can consider it an 'upgrade' pill.

"Exactly how I was before we were asked to kill Teresa?"

"Yes."

Priscilla seemed to hesitate for a moment, staring at the pills with awe, but gradually grabbed them from Irene's hand and tucked them into a pocket on her leather suit.

"Of course i'll take it."

"I wasn't giving you a choice in the matter anyway."

"oh ok..." Priscilla said.

"And don't forget to give the other two to Riful and her...man."

As Irene disappeared behind a corner, Priscilla pulled out one of the pills from her pocket and stared at it with maddened eyes. Resting in the palm of her hand was a tiny purple pill, sparkling brilliantly under the moonlight. She couldn't believe something so small could have such great effects.

_Back to when I was a hybrid? A claymore?_

_It's been so long...i can barely remember what it was like._

_Is this a pleasure worth risking everything for?_

_This will greatly reduce my strength, speed and everything._

_My ability to regenerate..._

_...but to have silver eyes...once again..._

"You should take it." An intruding voice echoed out from the shadows from a pair of malevolent looking eyes.

"Oh its you..."

"If you don't take it, then there's going to be a small army that will go after you the moment we arrive in the mainland." Ophelia said, stepping into the light to fully reveal herself.

"Because i'm an awakened being..." Priscilla said slowly.

"Yes. Because of that unmistakable scent that oozes from the pores of your skin. An experiment that has lost control... a monster that must be slain."

Awaiting a reply from Priscilla that never came, Ophelia's patience began to die down. She creeped towards Priscilla, pushing her face to within an inch of hers, and whispering in her ear: "You know, the pill will only work if you want it to. Theres nothing to stop you from awakening again and returning to normal."

"Why would I want to return to normal before the pill wares off?

"Well, suppose you were placed in a life-threatening situation. It would be terribly inconvenient to not be able to save yourself or somebody else because you were unable to tap into the yoki deep within you. That would just be so cruel. To be so powerful, yet unable to access that strength because of a single pill that left you atrophied."

"Should I expect to be in such a situation?" Priscilla asked timidly.

"Well it is a tournament, so that goes without saying. There's no choice in the matter anyway."

"Yes, I'm aware of that... Irene made that very clear."

"Swallow the pill." Ophelia said with shark-like eyes.

"And yourself? I suppose you must do the same given that you're also an awakened being." Priscilla asked.

"Of course, i've got my pill right here." Ophelia replied, pulling out a similar looking pill out from her sleeves.

Priscilla's attention flickered between the pill in Ophelia's hand and her own. She wasn't entirely comfortable with sealing away her great strength. It made her feel incredibly insecure.

In one foul swoop, she placed the pill in her mouth and swallowed it. Immediately, its effects began to set foot, sending strange feelings throughout her body. For the first time in so many years, the freezing wind oozed into her skin, down to her vey bones.. She began to shiver from the cold. Her fingers and feet felt numb, almost as if they were't apart of her body anymore. This feeling was not as welcoming as she had hoped in her thoughts.

"How is it like to have silver eyes once more?" Ophelia whispered into her ears once more in that chilling, eery voice of hers.

"It feels strange..." she answered.

"Mind if I test something?" Ophelia said suddenly, taking a step backward.

"Something?"

In a flash, a blade raced towards Priscilla, but she former number two just managed to avoid the razor sharp tip that was intended to decapitate her right arm. When a trail of red blood could be seen sprayed along the floor of the walkway, it seemed she wasn't quite fast enough though. The side of her shoulder had been cut deeply, and pain raced throughout her body like a thick thorn. The look on Ophelia's face showed that she was initially disappointed by missing, but began to grin shamelessly when she noticed the trail of blood she created.

"What are you doing?" Priscilla said, still panting from the incident.

"As I said, I was merely making sure you are indeed a hybrid. As you can see by the colour of your blood, you are."

"Pain..like this...is something I haven't felt in a long time." Priscilla said as a pool of blood began to form around her feet.

"Yes, pain can be a bitch can't it? But it can also be so compelling at the same time," Ophelia said sadistically as she knelt down and ran her index finger through a smudge of Priscilla's blood on the floor: "I've always loved the bright red colour of blood. It has such a strange beauty. Don't you agree?"

"Are you finished here?" Priscilla grunted, trying to focus her attention on healing the wound.

"How does it feel to be the victim of a cheep shot? I bet it doesn't feel good."

Knowing exactly what Ophelia was referring to, Priscilla found herself overwhelmed with shame.

"You are surprisingly powerful even in your hybrid form, and i'm not in the mood for a big fight, so I won't attempt to kill you now. I'll let the tournament give me the opportunity to do so."

"That's not going to happen." Priscilla grumbled.

"We'll see."

* * *

the next chapter is pretty much complete, and i will submit it shortly. Most likely a couple of days so stay turned!

please _**review**_ guys and tell me what you think. i dont think any of the characters are out of character. i try my best to make the situations as realistic as possible. but because i am not the actual creator of claymore, i can't say that that i am 100% accurate. But this is my best effort.

please rate and review. next chapter will speed up as the ghosts arrive in the mainland.

dont forget to review!


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41

As promised, here is the next chapter. I was planning on releasing this a few days earlier lol, but when i read through it, i realized it wasn't great so i rewrote a few of the sections and even added a whole new section.

quite a long chapter...

anyway, enjoy!

* * *

After only a day of travelling by sea, an oasis of green finally began to emerge out of the seemingly endless field of blue. They had arrived, with the mainland finally in view in the horizon. It spanned as far as a hybrid eye could see, covering the entire horizon. It was encased by giant, rocky cliff sides that seemed to tower hundreds of meters high. No doubt a natural means to prevent anyone from entering without raising alarms.

Intending to have a better look, Clare began to make her way towards the bow of the ship, but saw something impossible on the way over. Passing by Riful, she noticed the awakened being's eye an unmistakable silver. Attributing this to her imagination, she didn't think too much on it, but as soon as she noticed a pair of silver eyes on Priscilla as well, she knew there was something strange going on.

The ship eventually arrived at a rather large shipping port housed in-between a gap in the cliffside. It was built from finely cut timber and a significant amount of strange metallic materials most likely used for extra strength. Formidable looking guards in heavy chain mail armour, lined the perimeter of the dock with claymores in hand.

"Welcome to the mainland." Irene said to the group as she cut one of the many ropes that lined the side of the ship, causing a wooden platform to fall onto the dock.

"Male hybrids..." Clare said as she inspected the guards that stood on the port curiously.

"There are two types of guards in this place. Ordinary guards such as these warriors, and the regulators. Both Ophelia and I are regulators. Regulators are basically higher ranking guards, wearing a special black armour, such as the one I'm wearing at the moment. We do whatever we can to keep the peace in this place, even if that means blood must be spilled in order to do so." Irene said

Finished what she was saying, Irene then walked over the ramp, towards two guards that stood on the very edge of the dock.

There was no doubt in the ghost's mind that these guards were powerful given the amount of yoki they radiated. The levels were easily comparable to a single digital awakened, which either meant they weren't particularly good at suppressing their yoki, or the leak was completely intentional. They were, however, clearly inferior to both Irene and Ophelia, and some of the ghosts for that matter.

"Regulator, what business do you have?" one of the guards asked though his metal helmet, making his voice sound far more menacing than it probably was.

"Transfer as requested from Island number seven." Irene replied.

"You are expected in the courtyard. I now ask that your guests surrender all their weapons and equipment over before you proceed."

"Why must we do this?" Miria asked with distrustful eyes.

"To minimise conflict within the facility. I know you are not used to being apart from your weapons, but it is a condition of entry." Irene replied.

"But you and Ophelia are permitted to carry your weapons?" Clare asked.

"Me and Ophelia are both regulators. Hybrids chosen to keep the peace within the walls. Because you are combatants, you must surrender your weapons."

"If your concerned about your safety, i'll protect you." Ophelia hissed, giving Clare, and the rest of the ghosts a sadistic stare.

After a moment of hesitation and a few grumbles, each one of them eventually relinquished their weapons, placing them on the floor and taking a step backwards as instructed. Teresa in particular seemed quite dissatisfied by the 'condition of entry', but she didn't appear to make a big deal of it.

"You may proceed." the guards said, when he was satisfied that all weapons have been surrendered.

Suspicious stares were passed as the group made their way past the guards, both sides sizing up the other. Leaving the docks, the ghosts walked towards a large iron gate where more guards stood at post. They nodded to Irene and seconds later, the gate budged open, revealing what was behind.

Before them was a large barren courtyard, encased by giant walls that towered high into the sky, making the place seem like a prison or some sort of holding facility. In the middle of the field were four large wooden poles that pointed towards the sky, aligned perpendicularly to each other forming a square if one was to join them together with straight Lines. In the centre of these poles was a single boulder and the purpose of it, and the poles remained unknown to them at the given time. Scattered along the walls were a few large, but plain looking buildings that looked similar to the dorms they were all familiar with when they were in training to become a hybrid back on their island. The ground was covered in dirt, splattered with blood that was left to rot in the sun for far too long. There was no vegetation, or any signs of life among the harsh red and brown, giving the place a depressive feel to it. In front of them, beyond the walls that covered most of their view, was the tip of an enormous circular building. Not much could be seen of it, but it's importance was obvious to all. It was easily the largest object any of them have ever seen.

Instructed to move forwards, the ghosts made their way towards the centre of the courtyard, near the four large wooden poles where a man in a black suit and familiar black hat awaited them.

"I'm glad you made it." Rubel said when the ghosts approached him.

"The extraction was completed smoothly, with minimal difficulty. However, you failed to brief me on Teresa's revival and Priscilla..." Irene said, sounding slightly irritated.

"Yes that must have been quite a shock to you i'd imagine...it must have slipped my mind."

"Slipped your mind...i'm sure."

Clearing his throat, Rubel focused his gaze on the group as he spoke: "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but have no worry, they will be answered in no time."

"If you don't mind me interrupting for a moment," Teresa said, while glancing at the iron gate towards the other end of the facility: "Exactly what is there to stop me from killing you and all these guards? If you think disarming me would make you or these soldiers any safer, then you are terribly mistaken."

With a wicked smile, Rubel replied: "The legendary Teresa of the Faint Smile...The most powerful hybrid island number seven has ever created...I can understand why you of all others would ask me that question, but you're forgetting something important."

"And that is?" Teresa asked, staring at the guards around her with an almost vampiric-like stare.

"You might be the most powerful hybrid from your island, but do not forget that there are six other island like your own. It could be possible that you are not the most powerful among the other island's top warriors."

"Your bluffing will not save you."

"Teresa that would not be a good idea." Irene said.

"And why is that Irene?" Teresa said sharply.

"The awakened beings within your party currently cannot perform at their full potential, therefor, the strength of your party has been greatly diminished. In fact, temporarily, they are hybrids, just like yourself. If you look at their eyes you can see they have returned to unmistakable silver."

An array of eyes shot to the awakened beings, and those that had already not noticed this, let out gasps of shock at what they saw.

"Idiot! Why didn't you mention this to me last night?I thought that pill would only suppress my yoki, not transform me back into a claymore! No wonder I have silver eyes! And No wonder I had that weird craving to eat that cheese I saw on the table the other night!" Riful yelled.

"I don't think you were supposed to know." Priscilla replied with a confused face, clearly still pondering the matter herself.

"Back to a hybrid..." Clare said looking stumped, staring oddly at Priscilla.

"What were you thinking! What would happen if we need our old strength?"

"Theres nothing to stop you from awakening," Ophelia grinned with a sadistic vibe coming from her, gaining the abyssal one's attention: "But when you do, i'll be forced to cut you to a million pieces, alongside a small army of other regulators.

"And then i'll be forced to cut you and your small army first into a million pieces."

"If you plan to awaken now then please do so." Irene said: "Though, I must warn you, there has never been an awakened being that survived here for longer than a minute."

"I suppose I don't have to awaken now...I should enjoy being a hybrid as long as I can before the effect ware off. I guess I can eat that cheese now." Riful replied, looking slightly nervous.

"Whatever. I suppose I don't have to kill everyone now." Teresa said, crossing her arms.

"Normally, only the top three from each island are send to the mainland," Rubel said: "But i've managed to convince some people to allow for all of you to proceed through. There will be a number of battles in the arena, and I will leave it up to you to decide who fights and who doesn't. Although, be aware that the fight can be to the death."

"So this is serious..." Miria whispered.

"And another thing:" Rubel said while pointing to a large metallic container to his left. A guard followed suit, running towards the chest and pulling out an object from its contents and showing it to all the ghosts. After clearing his throat, he continued:"These shackles are standard equipment for all hybrids behind these walls. There are four pieces, one for each wrist and ankle. There are no chains, and none of them are bound together in any way."

"Then what's the point of these 'shackles', if they don't shackle me at all." Teresa objected, making her mockery of him obvious.

"They do not handicap you in the traditional way. They are considered a handicap because they have slight yoki draining abilities, and are made from an incredibly strong, yet heavy material. A pair of these would anchor an average hybrid to his or her knees, though I believe you all should be strong enough for its effect to not be unbearable."

"Exactly how heavy are they?" Miria asked.

The guard threw a wrist shackle towards her. She caught it and was immediately surprised by its surprising weight. It wasn't heavy enough to stop her from using her phantom ability, but it definably would add to her fatigue. These weights, though not overwhelmingly heavy now, would feel like a ton after a few hours of battle.

"These aren't heavy at all!" Helen said naively, showing her confidence by juggling two of the weights the guards passed to her.

"There definitely is a weight to them," Deneve added, catching an ankle shackle that was thrown to her before she continued: "But Helen is right, these probably won't handicap us much at all."

"Nothing unbearable, but they might be a bit of a problem after prolonged use. What do you think Teresa?" Clare asked the warrior that stood next to her, catching the pieces of her weights that the guard threw her way.

"These won't make a difference to me I assure you." Teresa said confidently while inspecting the pieces carefully, though not ignoring the threat they posed lightly.

One by one they began to place the shackles on the appropriate parts of their body. When the last of them had finished, Rubel's smile turned into a grin as he continued:

"In a few minutes, you will feel the shackles weaken you ever so slightly as they cypher yoki from your body. You probably won't notice it much at all so don't pay it much attention. Now even though they suppress your yoki, it doesn't mean you cannot awaken if you really felt the need to. Though as Ophelia has made very clear, you may awaken if you overwhelm your body with yoki, but be prepared to face the consequences when that happens."

Teresa smiled to herself as she glared at the shackles that were bound tightly around her wrists and ankles. They may have had a weight to them, but she was absolutely certain it wasn't going to affect her much. Just to prove her superiority over the bonds, Teresa tried to force them off but found that no matter how hard she tried, they wouldn't budge. She could have released her yoki and tried again with greatly increased strength, but felt it wasn't worth to receive all that attention on to herself. It was concerning that the possibility remained that she might not be able to remove these herself, and would some sort of a key to unlock them. That would be terribly inconvenient.

"So what happens now?" Miria asked, as she and her group tried to familiarise themselves with the extra weight the shackles bore upon their muscles.

"The tournament doesn't start for a while, and you have yet to get acquainted with the other warriors. If you look to your left and right, you will see two large buildings against the far walls. The buildings towards the western side,"He said while pointing to the dorm on his left: "is for female subjects, and the building in the eastern side will be for the males. In a few minutes, they will all join you here in the courtyard."

"Great...I hate being around so many others..." Teresa grumbled softly to herself, folding her arms to show her displeasure yet again.

"There's also something you must know. Combat is prohibited in the courtyard, except for friendly sparring, and any one found breaking these rules will be severely punished. Good luck..." Rubel said as he turned around and began to head towards the lot of guards towards the northern gate.

"Perhaps we can convince them to join our rebellion?" Helen suggested.

"Perhaps, though we know nothing about them, it is unwise to make such an assumption so early on." Miria remarked while glaring at the bunker housed towards the eastern wall.

"I've never really seen a male hybrid, except Raki of course." Helen said excitingly.

"Why do I get the feeling this isn't going to be a friendly encounter?" Raki said with a sunken face, though looking determined not to show his anxiety.

It was then when an alarm was sounded, and the first slew of warriors began to emerge from their dorms, each one of them wearing the same shackles around their ankle and wrists. There were a few dozen coming out of each building, with males from the east and females from the west. The males wore nothing but undergarments, while the females were more fortunate to wear a suit made out of thin leather. As the ghosts sized up each newcomer, they began to notice that none of these warriors had the familiar 'faded' blonde colour in their hair and silver in their eyes. Some had hair as white as snow, while others were a direct contrast with hair as dark as coal. There were a few with exotic eye colours such as a mesmerising purple and dark blue.

A group of females began to approach them and at first said nothing. They merely inspected the ghosts, scrutinising every last detail. There were three of them in total, obviously from the same island, all with the same black hair and exotic blue eyes. The one that appeared to be the leader had hair similar to Teresa, but only about half the length and the curls far less prevalent. The ends were cut off seemingly perfectly, with not even one split end in sight. She was easily a year or two younger than most warriors, standing slightly shorter with almost perfectly smooth skin. Though quite fragile looking, there was definably something about her that demanded everyone's attention, though exactly why that was would elude them for the next hour.

"You're from island number seven?" The leader asked, in an exotic accent that was obviously unique to her island.

"Yes. And you?" Clare replied.

"I'm from island number four," the warrior replied, still scrutinising the ghosts with those mystifying blue eyes: "My name is Skye, and I am the current number one on my island."

"So the top three from each island is currently here." Miria said.

"Yes, from what i've been told, the top three are usually sent here. Why is there more than three of you?" Skye asked.

"Thats none of your business warrior." Irene snapped.

"I didn't mean to be a nuisance, but I'm just curious is all. I suppose it might be because they just couldn't decide which of you to put in the top three, so they just sent you all."

"No that's probably not the reason..." Clare said.

"Well whatever it is, the regulator is right. It's not really in my place to know. It's my place to know who my competition is. See you in the arena." Skye said, turning her back and moving away from them with the other two following her behind.

"Black hair..." Teresa said in a gloomy tone.

"What is it Teresa?" Clare asked curiously.

"I used to have black hair before it became what I am. I used to be quite fond of it actually. It's a Long story."

* * *

An hour had passed in the facility and activity was far greater than any of them had anticipated. Ophelia was instructed to pick warriors at random from a list, hand them their weapons and force them to do combat against each other. Surprisingly to Clare, Ophelia seemed to be actually playing by the rules, not taking a bias on any particular warrior or island. Clare would have thought that she would have chosen Priscilla as one of the combatants just to cause mischief. It was however, a relief to learn that the fights were not meant to the death, with overly violent ones were stopped before they got out of hand. Irene said this was the facilities way of keeping the combatants adrenalized before the actual tournament. The warriors that weren't chosen were forced to spectate the current ones being fought, and possibly be inspired by it. There was nothing spectacular about most of the battle, but when Skye's name was called, the groups attention jumped.

It became common knowledge rather quickly who the top warriors were that gathered here, and when the first of them was called out, the crowds anticipation was at its maximum. The warrior from island number four, Skye, was called out, and her opponent was a rather brutish looking male. Skye stood a foot shorter than him, probably outweighed threefold, but her confidence remained razor sharp. Her opponent on the other hand, didn't look so confident. It was clear to everyone that his power was far behind hers, but the rules were iron clad, refusal to fight when asked is punished by death. The crowed hurried out of their way, moving off to the side to provide as much battle space as possible. Ophelia threw the two their weapons, and the fight was underway.

All expectation was for Skye to finnish the fight as soon as possible, but instead of doing this, the crowd was surprised to see her merely standing there, leering at the nervous man before her, as if daring him to attack her. Clearly frustrated, he began to charge at her in a bullish manner, hoping to use his superior size and height to overpower her by sheer force, but was unsuccessful. The moment he came close to her, a loud sonic boom ripped through the air and emerged as a shockwave that sent the man flying through the air. Gasps could be heard the moment he hit the ground, with nobody looking quite sure exactly what had just happened. Before this mystery was solved, he quickly got to his feet to charge at her a second time, but was met with the same wall of air that flung him through the air yet again.

"Clever trick." Teresa smirked.

"That was amazing, how did she do that?" Helen asked, clearly astonished.

"Skye momentarily releases a torrent of yoki in a given direction, creating a wall of air that races towards opponents. Perfect for both offence and defence, but only effective in short bursts and is terribly inefficient."

"How is that possible? Such a torrent of yoki is only possible when one is near awakening." Clare said.

"Perhaps she is half awakened," Miria replied: "Or perhaps she has a level of control of her yoki which none of us can comprehend."

"Can you beat that Teresa?" Helen blurted boldly.

Teresa spared a look at Skye, then set her eyes upon Helen: "I suppose she might force me to get serious, but nothing I can't handle."

While helplessly laying against the dirt, Ophelia was seen walking over to the man, kicking him in the side to make sure he wasn't dead. Skye, on the other hand, didn't even move a finger during the entire battle, and remained standing in the exact same spot she started. Interestingly, there were seemingly no signs of stress or fatigue on Skye whatsoever. Her posture remained razor sharp, and the look on her face as casual as ever.

"Didn't you say such a technique would ware her out Teresa?" Helen said, still looking surprised by what she saw a moment earlier.

Teresa's attention remained fixated upon Skye, seemingly not even aware of the question Helen just asked, and a whole two seconds went by before she turned to her and replied:

"She's trying to fool us into believing that technique has almost no effect on her, but that is also part of the reason why the technique is so devastating. Skye also plays a psychological game with her opponents, doing her best to convince them there is no limit to how many times she can use it. Unluckily for her, I can see the flow of yoki within her body, and am not fooled by such an act."

"So she's exhausted at this point?" Clare asked.

"Not exhausted at his point, but after a few more of those shockwaves she'll begin to feel the effects."

"But why would she use such a technique on a friendly match? It doesn't make sense to ware yourself out before the real deal." Deneve said.

"As Teresa said," Miria replied: "Skye is playing a mind game with all the warriors here. If she can convince everyone that she's in a league of her own, then she has a major advantage as her opponents' confidence takes a major hit."

Kicking the man in the ribs again, Ophelia seemed satisfied that the battle was indeed over, and instructed a few guards to attend to the man, quickly getting back to her list.

"Next fight...both from island seven; the number two and number three respectively, Priscilla and...Clare." Ophelia yelled, turning sharply to gaze upon the two.

A wave of anxiety and confusion set upon the ghosts, causing both Priscilla and Clare to look into each other's eyes strangely. They were't sure where they got Clare being number 'three' from, but it was probably something made up by Rubel they figured. Like Skye, most of the ghosts ranked among the most powerful warriors stationed here, and that included both Clare and Priscilla. Various warriors began to move away from them, making more space for their upcoming battle. Ophelia came out through the crowd of warriors, having her own Claymore sheathed on her back and holding two others in each hand. Throwing both Clare and Priscilla the swords, she said:

"This is going to be an interesting battle."

Thank Rubel for this. I'm sure it's probably his doing. I mean, what are the odds of you two having to do battle against each other in front of everyone?"

"And what if we refuse?" Clare said.

Releasing a sly grin, Ophelia replied: "Then you will all be killed by the regulators. As I am one of them, I would have no choice but to cut you down."

The impatience of the guards, and some of the audience was obvious. Grunts and pants came out from all around them with all eyes set upon the two warriors with anticipation. Clare tightened her grip on her sword and glanced at her opponent, Priscilla, who seemed terribly uncomfortable about the situation. Her group began to back away, leaving the two to their upcoming battle. Of all her comrades, Teresa was the last to leave. She glanced at the regulators around her, guards in dark metal armour scattered around the field, then set her sight upon Clare a moment later.

Raising her weapon against Priscilla, Clare was quick to unleash a flurry of attacks, to which the former awakened being responded with immediate parries. Knowing Priscilla's great strength and apparent 'large potential', Clare didn't hold back, making sure that each successive weapon swing was more powerful than the last. Though defending herself rather effectively, Priscilla's jerky, almost amateur movements made her discomfort in the battle clear. She blocked and parried in awkward ways, as if it was the first time she ever did so. The years clearly hadn't been kind to her skills with a blade, and doing battle with someone as skilled Clare appeared to be a serious challenge for her, or so it seemed.

Priscilla's confidence however, began to rise with each passing sweep, parry, dodge and block. Her defence had matured, giving her enough time to send weapon exchanges Clare's way. It didn't take long for Clare to realise that if she allowed the battle to continue the way it did, then Priscilla would eventually amass enough of her old combat skills to be a formidable threat, possibly too much for her to handle. Intending to stop the fight as soon as possible, Clare threw a windcutter Priscilla's way, but after noticing its effect to be minimal, she then took it a step further by partially awakening her right arm and unleashed the far deadlier quicksword. Amazingly, Priscilla managed to defend herself even from this ability, and Clare was running out of options.

As the fight continued on, Clare came to another startling realisation. While her skills surpassed Priscilla's, she was no where near as fast. Priscilla now fought in a manner very similar to Teresa, with unparalleled fluidity, and accuracy, a superior warrior. In order to stay in the battle, Clare was forced to use her quicksword more than she was comfortable with, which only put strain on her stamina, something she needed for later on for sure. She knew there was no point to releasing her yoki, knowing Priscilla would just do the same if the situation called for it.

Noticing a mistake in one of Priscilla's swings, which caused her to lose her balance for a millisecond, Clare tried to take advantage of the opportunity by ramming an elbow to the side of Priscilla's face, but she just wasn't quick enough. Priscilla not only had enough time to recover from her own mistake, but avoid the incoming attack as well. Expecting Priscilla to finnish her, Clare was surprised to see her throw her blade off to the side instead.

"I'm tired. Clare wins." she said.

Clare didn't know what to think of this. She felt both relieved and embarrassed that her former nemesis would surrender in such a manner. Ophelia, however, had an annoyed look on her face as she exchanged stares with Priscilla. It was clear she wasn't happy to hear such a thing from her.

"I'm sorry what was that? I didn't hear you." Ophelia said.

"I surrender."

Ophelia exchanged a stare at Clare for a moment, releasing a huge grin the moment she noticed a single drop of sweat on Clare's forehead. Noticing this grin, Clare immediately realised the reason this battle was organised this battle in the first place. Ophelia's intention was to turn an already sour relationship Clare shared with Priscilla to an even sourer one. But she wasn't going to let Ophelia get to her.

* * *

About an hour had passed and the fights had come to and end. Surprisingly, none of the other ghosts were chosen to do battle, a suspicious inconsistency Clare thought. The ghosts had occupied an empty corner in the south western side of the facility, resting and waiting until the tournament started in around another hour or so. Irene had been called away by a man in black and hasn't returned since. Ophelia, along with the other regulators, stayed to patrol the courtyard. With hours of observation, Clare began to notice that Ophelia would often cause some of the fights she was tasked with preventing. A few of the warriors already felt the harsh justice of Ophelia's cruel fist, guaranteed to stop any serious fights long before they started. Ophelia was quite easily one of the more powerful regulators, with most of the others inferior to most of the ghosts. Her presence was quite menacing, causing a panic from the weaker warriors, and an unparalleled level of respect from the more powerful ones. There was however, one thing that was on Clare's mind. If it was only Ophelia, Irene and rest of the regulators to keep everyone in check, then a revolt would quickly go out of hand. With the likes of Teresa, Priscilla, skye and herself, Clare couldn't see how the facility would control such a revolt.. Perhaps, she thought, there were far more regulators stationed outside of this courtyard, a hundred more stationed in other sections of this stronghold. But as Miria told her, information is the most important asset. gaining knowledge of your opponents was crucial before even considering to strike them down. Never make the mistake of underestimating your opponents.

Her trail of thought was interrupted when she noticed one of the male warriors walking towards them, drawing the stare of Ophelia, but for some reason, she allowed him to pass without any trouble. He was an average sized man with neat, dangling brown hair a strikingly alluring physique.

He quietly approached the group, and casually leant against the of wall, next to where Teresa rested with her eyes closed. His appearance caused a shadow to be cast on the wavy haired warrior, causing her to wake up and view the reason for the disturbance.

"Your in the way of my sun. Move it." Teresa hissed.

"Forgive me, I didn't mean to be a nuisance ." he said.

"Well you are."

"Theres just something about you that I find interesting. Clearly, you are the most powerful of your island. Definably holding the rank of number one. Am I correct?"

"I held that rank once yes." Teresa replied sounding uninterested.

"But not anymore?"

"No." she coldly answered.

Looking as if he had given up attempting to flatter her, he continued:

"I've noticed that you as well as I have been absent from all the sparring matches fought earlier. Instead of just laying around, why don't we have a friendly match? You and I could spare together. It'll be a great warmup."

"Go spar with yourself." Teresa sneered coldly.

With a smirk seen on the corner of his lips, the man continued:"My name is Marcus, and you are?"

"...Teresa."

"Think about my offer Teresa," Marcus said, passing her a friendly look "We're all about to be thrown into the mixer. Might as well prepare for it."

"Can't say that I will."

When he left, a moment of silence loomed amongst the ghosts. Some weren't sure what happened was significant at all, others pondered if there was something more to his intentions that just a simple 'spar' request.

"He's quite interesting. I certainty wouldn't mind to spar with someone like him" Helen said cheekily, glaring at the back of Marcus as she made his way back to his islands group of warriors "I've never spoken to many guys before, maybe it's time to do so. I don't know about you, but I'd rather talk to them than just sit here and stare into the sky for hours."

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea..." Miria said.

"Alright I'm coming with you," Deneve interrupted.

"Deneve?"

shrugging her shoulders, Deneve replied: "It's like Marus said. We're about to be thrown in the mixer."

Miria exchanged a look at all her comrades and let out a sigh as she said: "I'll come too. But we have to make sure not to cause any trouble...i suppose analysis of out opponents before battle would only help us later on."

Helen spared a cheeky grin at a less than enthusiastic Clare and then Teresa. Both of them replied with a cold wave of the head, giving a clear indication they were't interested in joining them. She then turned her attention on Raki and said:

"So what about you? You coming?"

Raki spared a glance at Clare for a second, but after seeing an approving smile on her face, she replied:

"Sure, why not. Better than doing nothing anyways I suppose."

* * *

The others were gone for some time, and Clare's boredom was begging to get to her. She rested against the side of the wall next to Teresa, and her throat was getting dry, and thirst began to top her list of thoughts. She remembered noticing a water well of some sort towards the northeaster corner of the facility.

"Teresa I think it's best if we stretch our legs, perhaps get a drink of water." Clare said the warrior that rested next to her.

"I think so too Clare," Teresa said, then getting to her feet, gesturing Clare to follow her.

Distrustful eyes were set upon the two as they passed by various groups until they finally arrived at the water well. It was occupied however, by a group of rather unfriendly looking males with a few females among them. They were scattered around the area, with some of them trying to show ownership of the well by leaning against it stubbornly. When the group of men noticed Teresa and Clare arrive, their conversations came to an end and proceeded to give harsh stares at the newcomers.

"What do you two want?" A particularity mean looking man with short grey hair with slivers of silver along his temples. He was heavily built physicality wise, and leant comfortably against the side of the well alongside another man that leant on the opposite side.

"That is none of your business. Move aside or i'll move you." Teresa said.

"You're quite a dazing beauty aren't you? Care to join me in the dorms for a little fun?" he said, causing a few laughs from his group.

"No not really." Teresa replied with a face as emotionless as a statue.

"Well that's a shame because thats the only way you can hope to have a drink around here."

Clare didn't know why the regulators would allow a single group to take ownership of such a important part of the courtyard. Perhaps they were afraid of these men, or perhaps they just didn't care. The second reason was the most likely, as Clare doubted Ophelia would even hesitate to force them away if she felt the need, but clearly she didn't.

"Please move aside." Clare said.

"I'll take that one." another man said, taking a step forward to inspect Clare closer with lustrous eyes.

Not looking intimidated in the slightest, Teresa ignored the men and proceeded to make her way towards the well, but was stopped when the man with silvery hair stepped in her way to block her off. He pushed his ugly face up to hers, no doubt trying using his superior height in an attempt to intimidate her, just as most of the males do around here.

"I will hurt you if you do not move." Teresa warned.

"Take your best shot."

Even with the extra weights upon her wrists, Teresa proved her incredible agility by throwing a jab as quick as lighting towards the man's head in an attempt to knock him out. Eyes widened in disbelief when her incredibly quick jab was caught by the man with seemingly minimal effort.

"You are faster than I thought, I'll give you that." Teresa said, taking a step back to analyse the yoki that flowed through the mans body.

"Is that the best you've got?" He replied with a grin.

Tapping into her reserved powers, and possibly being inspired by Skye, Teresa released a quick shockwave of yoki that radiated throughout the entire courtyard, grabbing the attention of nearly every warrior around her. She released enough yoki to turn her silvery eyes into a frightening gold for only a short moment, immediately causing the man to lose all his arrogance from before.

"That's some impressive yoki you have...and I can tell you barely even scraped ten percent of your potential..." he said sounding slightly more nervous.

"The next punch will be for real." Teresa warned.

"She might be tough, but can she take us all on?" the other man leaning against the well said, getting to his feet and walking up to Teresa. Eventually more and more of the group began to circle the two, escalating the tension to dangerous levels. Mocking laughter was heard all around them, and Clare was beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable.

"If she really wanted to, she could knock you all unconscious in a heartbeat, but I also know that she doesn't want to get her hands dirty." a familiar voice said from nowhere.

All eyes turned towards the direction of the voice, and a lone Marcus stood before the group, staring at the men with dissaproving eyes.

"Why don't you get lost." the man with silvery hair that stood before Teresa yelled back.

"Let them get to the well, or you'll regret it."

"Make me."

Marcus marched towards the warrior in a threatening manner, ploughing his way through the bunch of men and pushing the man against the side of the wall with such force, impact cracks formed alongside the stone. The others immediately began to back off, not willing to get involved in potentially violent fight. Teresa stared at Marcus blankly. Clearly surprised at his need to protect her.

"You must be the number one from your island," The man with silvery hair spurted with a wicked grin on his face, "Killing you will be what i'm most looking forward to in the arena."

"Well then you better get lost if you plan to meet me there and not have your life ended here."

Letting out a chuckle, the man dusted himself off and gestured his group to move away from the well.

"This isn't over asshole. The next time I see you you're dead." the man said, looking as if he just noticed something unpleasant heading towards them.

As the men disappeared, Teresa turned her attention back upon Marcus.

"I didn't ask for any help." she said, passing by him as she walked towards the well.

"I know you didn't. But I decided to get them out of the way for you. Didn't want to watch you get your hands dirty."

"Just so you know, if you happen to be my opponent in the arena, I will kill you if I must." Teresa said coldly.

"I know the rules here, and lets hope it doesn't get to that."

"So we cannot refuse to kill someone? Even if the crowd asks us to?" Clare asked him.

"I believe we have no choice in the matter." he replied.

Clare felt a malevolent Presence approach them from behind, and when she looked over her shoulder, she could see Ophelia standing there with a mad grin on her face.

"The crowd decides whether the loser is killed or not. Sometimes they are spared and sometimes they aren't. It depends entirely on how entertaining they are I suppose." she said.

"So it's a popularity contest..." Marcus replied.

Blade in her arms, the blood soaked warrior then moved towards Marcus, pointing the sharp blade at his chest and running the tip upwards until it poked the side of his cheek: "What you did was very naughty, and I just can't ignore such an action."

"Don't pester me with your words. Do what you've came to do" Marcus grunted.

"For potentially causing an outbreak, you are ordered to squat on top of one of the poles until I say you can get off. And you'll be doing this while holding a rock. A particularly heavy rock." Ophelia said while pointing to the four large poles anchored to the ground in the middle of the field, and the boulder in the middle.

Marcus set his eyes upon the poles that towered high into the sky, let out a sigh and began to make his way towards the middle without giving Ophelia the satisfaction of making his frustration clear. Teresa was caught off guard when the man smiled at her as he passed by, surprising herself when she returned a smile his way. It was odd, but she suddenly found herself feeling pity for Marcus knowing full well that it should have been her who would have potentially have to squat on those poles instead. Though if she's actually do it is another story altogether.

"That really wasn't necessary. He was just being a fool and trying to protect us from that group from before." Teresa said.

"I don't really have a choice in the matter. Disobedience must not go unpunished." Ophelia answered, gritting her teeth in excitement.

"Well he knew the consequences, so I suppose he gets what he deserves..."

"I'm glad you agree." Ophelia said, turning her attention to Clare who stared oddly at her.

"Do the other regulators besides Irene know that you're an awakened being?" Clare asked boldly.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not an awakened being." Ophelia replied mockingly, heavily implying that Clare's suspicion was indeed correct.

"So they don't know..."

"Is that an attempt at blackmail Clare?"

"Consider it an insurance policy in case things get hairy." she replied.

"Clever girl. Using something like that to your advantage. I knew you'd have it in you."

Walking up to the well, Teresa placed both her hands in a small bucket of water that rested along the side of the well and scooped out a handful of for a drink, with Clare following shortly after.

"Just so you know Ophelia," Teresa said as she spared a glance at Marcus making his way towards the centre of the courtyard:"When all this is finished, you're going to have one hell of a difficult time convincing me not to kill you."

* * *

there we go, chapter finnished.

please review guys! reviews mean a lot to me!

any further questions feel free to email me.

cheers!


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42

It's been a while since my last update and i apologise for taking so long. Truth be told, i took a break and went overseas for a while and suddenly realised a few months have gone by :/

I've recently caught up with the Claymore manga and once again find myself in the mood to do a little bit of writing to pass the time.

I'm not sure how far i want this story to go, but if people like it then i'll be glad to continue it further.

tell me what you guys think :D

enjoy.

* * *

"_I have a question i've been meaning to ask you for a while. But be aware that regardless of what you say, i'm still going to kill you."Rafaela said, standing before Irene with her blade directed towards the traitor._

"_Go ahead. Fate has already chosen my end." _

"_Seeing that you're alive, you must have witnessed a certain event. Tell me, I've always wanted to know just how exactly did Teresa of the faint smile die?"_

"_How do you know of Teresa?" Irene said, perplexed._

"_You can choose to answer my questions or simply die on the spot. Up to you so please make up your mind. So I ask one more time, how did Teresa die?"_

_Irene smirked:"The truth was that Teresa should not have fallen that day. Even the combined powers of numbers two through five were no match for her. It was futile to even attempt it. However, due to a newfound softness in her heart,Teresa gave her opponents far too many opportunities to kill her, and as a result, her head was taken."_

"_I see. So that's how it was." Rafaela said._

"_Seeing how curious you appear of Teresa, I suppose it would be appropriate to tell you that the warrior that just left here a moment ago...carries the power of the one you call Teresa."_

_Rafaela lowered her blade in confusion: "What are you talking about?"_

_A smile came upon Irene's lips: "Is it so hard to believe?"_

"_I see. So now she must be seeking revenge against that number two awakened one, the one that killed her.." Rafaela said._

"_Perhaps."_

_Rafaela's face stiffened:"But it doesn't matter anyway. I could sense her aura from before, and her powers were miniscule. Even by giving her your arm and technique, there is no way she'll survive."_

_Rafaela looked off to the side from the cliffside from which they stood. Something had gained her attention._

"_I can feel a battle going on in the distance. Your warrior is doing battle with an awakened being. Judging by the difference in power, it is a very one sided fight."_

_She paused to see Irene lost to deep thought as she stared off in the direction which Clare left._

"_Seeing as you put so much faith into that warrior i'll give you a deal." Rafaela said; " If this warrior of yours by some chance defeats that awakened, then consider her victory one for you both."_

* * *

Irene returned to the courtyard, and the combatants were finally allowed access deeper into the facility. They were led by large exercise fields filled with trainee hybrids, young children, both and male and female forced to undergo gruelling training ordeals. Some sparred against each other with practise training swords , while others were forced to do physical workouts under the supervision of the organisation's 'ninjas', or henchmen. It was a cruel sight seeing these children treated like soldiers, but it was the harsh reality they were long since accustomed to.

As they travelled deeper into the facility, It quickly became clear to them that this place was very similar to the organisation's base back on their respective islands. There was very little pavement present, but blood red sand that stained the ground instead, blanketing around the dome structured buildings the organisation was infamous for. There were various guard posts with hybrids holding all sorts of weapons including large Iron bows and halberts, watching for any trouble below. Men in dark robes walked along the facility, chatting furiously amongst themselves and checking on the progress of the trainees. A few of them scoffed when they noticed some of the ghosts not in uniform, but for some reason didn't seem to do anything about it.

"Ophelia lead the combatants forward. I wish to speak with the warriors from island number seven..." Irene said.

Ophelia stared at her for a moment, a grin settling on her face: "Oh I see. Don't want the others around in that case now do we...boss?" she said , causing a few suspicious stares from the other combatants.

Irene gave her a cold stare. She clearly wasn't impressed with Ophelia's rash choice of words, however true they may have been.

As the rest of the combatants were lead away by Ophelia, Irene turned to address the group before her, but was cut off by an overenthusiastic Riful.

"I want to wear the combat uniform, just like old times. It''l be so nostalgic don't you think?." Riful said excitingly, her hands caressed at the thought.

"Indeed it has been quite a while since you would have worn it," Irene said, still hesitant over the fact that she was speaking to one of the abyssal ones.

She pointed to a supply armoury near their vicinity: "You'll find everything you need over there for you and that...man."

Watching as Riful scurried over to the armoury , Clare turned to Irene: "You said that you would explain everything when we arrived in this place. I believe now would be a good time."

Irene looked at all the perplexed faces around her. Then directly at Teresa. She had never seen such a look on Teresa before, and it humoured her to some extent.

"This establishment is the organisation's main headquarters on this mainland. Regulators, or hybrids police this settlement and protect it from external threats just the same as back on our island. The same basic rules apply here as well. All hybrids are issued the same basic equipment and given an appropriate rank based on combat effectiveness of course."

The groups attention was shifted when Riful returned to the group, a cheerful smile ran across her face as she strutted her new uniform proudly in front of everyone. Clare in particular was stricken at just how natural the suit looked on her. She had almost forgotten the fact that Riful was not always an abyssal one. Though she was away, it seemed she didn't miss a word of what Irene said.

"This really brings back memories," she said excitedly, inspecting her new uniform with a nostalgic look to her now silvery eyes: "It really has been a long time since i've worn this uniform...But I dont get it, why would you work for the organisation?"

"In this place we fight for our existence, not the organisation. The reality is that there is an enemy out there that supersedes the injustice the organisation is currently known for. Our kind are the only beings powerful enough to stand up to whats out there."

"Your talking about the dragons kin." Miria said.

"That is correct."

"Regardless... this is a war that has nothing to do with us. Why should we get involved?" Teresa said.

"The dragon kin will attack and kill you whether you're apart of this war or not. Now if you choose to be against the organisation then you are their enemy. If you are their enemy then you will be attacked by them."

"Yet you have no loyalty to them. You merely stay here to take shelter and rest." Miria said.

"Then we must take the organisation down from within..." Priscilla said, her small stature showing a deceptive hatred: "We have to kill the leaders of the organisation. What they did was unforgivable and they must pay."

The others looked at her oddly at first, but they all knew that Priscilla was right. As boldly as she was in stating it, that was what they all knew must be done.

"I wonder how the strongest of these regulators compares to us." Clare said.

_I would like to know that as well..._ Irene thought to herself.

* * *

Irene led them away from the exercise fields, and towards a large circular looking building close to the centre of the establishment. The building, called the Colosseum, was of an impressive size, large enough to contain no doubt even the most frenzied of battles. Giant iron girders held up the sides of the Colosseum, providing the much needed support and stability that a building of its size required.

Entering from a side entrance, they were surprised to pass by mere human guards, patrolling the area with halberts and spears in their hands. Upon entering the coliseum's epicentre, a huge crowd greeted them from the all sides of the Colosseum. The scope of the epicentre battlefield was mind boggling. The other end seemed as if it was a mile away. Giant stone blocks littered the grounds, alongside other crumbling buildings and twisted bits of metal. The scars of battle were clear in this place. Blood and skeletal remains littered the grounds, with some of the remains looking completely alien to them. Thousands of human spectators lined the sides of the colosseum, protected by the large defensive barriers designed to keep the battles separate from them.

Clare set her sights upon the possible threats that could pose a problem in the not so distant future. Her attention was focused towards the more powerful hybrids, ideally Skye and the other first ranking warriors from the other islands. Most of them seemed very powerful in their own right, and she was most curious to see what powers they possessed.

A small army of the organisations ninjas marched out from chambers along the side of the Colosseum, each one removing the heavy shacks from the combatants bodies one by one. A second set of them appeared a moment later, returning their weapons back as well. The ghosts had their Claymore's returned to them, and were most intrigued to see some of the warriors from the other islands wielding very different weapons to their own. Some held large metallic spears and halberts, others bows like the regulators earlier, and there were a few who even held a shield in their offhand. Most, however, wielded the infamous Claymore the ghosts were all used to.

Irene addressed the combatants: "Forgive me for the long wait in that courtyard. That was intentionally done to spot any aggressive and unreliable combatants before they were allowed entrance. Conflicts were kept at a minimum and you all pass. My name is Irene and I ranked number one of the regulators."

Irene paused for a moment as she glanced over towards Clare's group, taking especial notice of Teresa's initial reaction.

Ophelia smirked when she noticed the stricken faces of all the combatants: "The Colosseum...or the building of death as it's known around here, is where trainees first experience battle with one of those nasty dragons. It's the ultimate test to see if you're strong enough to last out there."

"These dragon warriors...how do they compare to our kind?" Skye said, wielding a long and elegant metallic bow in her dominant arm.

"In terms of strength, they win. In Agility, we win, most of the time." Irene said: "Be aware though that outside these walls, they are able to transform and revert back into their humanoid states at any moment in time."

"Are they comparable to single digit awakened beings?" Miria said.

Teresa quickly took notice of the smallest of smirks on Marcus's lips, a reaction she found quite strange given the current situation. The man, who held a long pole arm emitted no yoki that she could detect, but emitted a strange vibe nevertheless.

"Their power seems to vary wildly between them, but an average one would be very similar in strength yes. The strongest we've encountered can easily rival even an abyssal one, though ones of such magnitudes are a very rare sight nowadays."

"On my island I have destroyed two awakened beings that were considered as abyssal ones. If these dragons are comparable to them, then that is not a problem." Skye said, her arms crossed, an arrogant smile across her face.

"I doubt that really. The abyssal ones on your island must have been rather weak for someone like you to take them on without awakening." Riful said.

Skye smirked her way: "I'm merely telling you what i've done on my island. What you think of it is irrelevant to me at this moment."

A thunderous sound echoed from the opposite end of the Colosseum, distracting them momentarily. It was the sound of something big, the sound of a monster. The screeching sound of Iron grinding with stone accompanied the roars as a large gate opened to reveal a draconic beast being led out by a dozen or so hybrids. Giant shackles and chains covered it's body, allowing its massive strength to be kept under control by its captors.

The ghosts watched the creature thoroughly, neither one of them had seen anything like it before. It was similar to an awakened being like Dauf in terms of size and power, but seemed more like an animal as opposed than a monster. Though clearly a dragon of some kind, there was still a very human-like appearance to it, as if it were not completely a dragon, but merely a descendent of one.

"First ranking warriors step forward." Irene said.

Teresa shrugged. She didn't like having attention on her. Both Riful and skye however seemed to relish in it.

"This one has been used as a training dummy for quite some time now," Irene said; "We have placed restrains and weights to the appropriate parts of his body to limit its degree of moveability and attack speed. Though this being the case, it still has extremely thick armour for skin and can easily kill a warrior on its own."

The creature groaned and struggled under it's shackles as it was led to the centre of the Colosseum. When it approached the centre, its bonds were removed, and its captors left in all directions. Consumed by adrenalin and rage, it charged mercilessly towards the number ones with all fours.

A few of the other combatants began to back away as the creature approached, but the number ones lived up to their title and stood strong. Drawing their blades, they prepared themselves for the imminent attack.

Much to Teresa's annoyance, it seemed to be heading over to her direction, and the other warriors quickly took notice of this and began to scatter outwards.

"Honestly no one else will engage it? How annoying." Teresa said, placing a hand behind her shoulder to grab hold of her blade's handle but not actually drawing it out until the very last moment.

Teresa threw herself out of the way of it's first furious swipe, its deathly claws missing their fast moving target and smashing into the cold dirt instead. Through the mounds of debree and sand thrown around by the sheer impact, Teresa continued to evade cleverly, though looking seemingly surprised at the strength of her opponent.

Teresa spun her way out of one of its attacks, and countered with a slice across it's giant arm. Her huge blade scrapping but not actually damaging it's thick armour.

_Quite the tough one aren't we?_

Her attention was grabbed when Riful engaged the beast from the side, using her impressive agility and acrobatic skills to leap across its body , taking a slice across it's ribs. Yet again, blood did not rush out of it's wounds. In fact, the damaged appeared to be a mere scrape against its hard outer layer. Riful retreated from her attack and fell back towards Teresa.

"Conventional attacks won't work on these guys, like Dauf their skin is really strong. Riful said, both her and Teresa evading the many attacks the enraged beast threw at them: "But it does seem to have areas weaker than others."

"i can see that." Teresa said.

"Hey you're half awakened now aren't you? Just like Clare. She seems to have gotten stronger as a result. I wonder how it effects you?"

Teresa glanced at her blankly for a moment, then with a clean slice, she removed one of the beasts monstrously large fingers as it attempted to swipe at her. The huge chunk of meat was thrown into the air, a pool of blood in its wake.

A monstrous roar erupted from the beast, and the stadium lit with excitement.

Riful smirked: "Pretty impressive feat for your eyes not to even change colour and do such a feat, though I suspect you could have done that even before."

"If you gave it a try i'm sure you could pull it off as well." Teresa said.

"To what? Half awaken? Or slice a finger off?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Teresa said smiling.

Riful dumbfounded, Teresa disappeared from her sight, reappearing a moment later before the draconic beast and threw a merciless slash against it. The claymore tore though an impressive amount of its outer armour and inflicting damaging wounds upon its flesh.

It responded to the manoeuvre surprisingly quickly, flicking it's massive tail Teresa's way. Teresa dodged the appendage, and watched as Riful hopped gracefully across the creature's body, running her blade through the weaker areas of its armour. A Strike against the side of it's neck left it temporarily stunned, it's powerful legs going limp for merely a second.

With the beast maimed, Teresa saw the opening in its neck and threw herself upwards in order to slice her blade agains it, but was alarmed to see it's claws already on an intercept with her.

_Damn...it recovered quicker than I had thought._

_However..._

While in mid air, Teresa's silver eyes turned solid gold, and the enormous appendage was cut cleanly in two pieces with a clean slice through the middle.

A faint smile on her lips as blood sprayed from it's wounds.

_Honestly not being able to read its movements is a real bother._

The stadium lit with excitement for a second time, and Teresa's attention drew to the many thousand humans that cheered for her along the stadium's sidelines. At first she didn't care much for them, but when they cheered this loudly it made her wonder what it was they cheered for exactly? We're they cheering for her? Or merely cheering in excitement for the thrill of battle?

Reverting her eyes back to their normal silver state, Teresa noticed the rest of the first ranking warriors approaching her.

"I suppose you came to finnish it off?" she said, mockingly.

"Don't take it the wrong way, we knew you and that small one were both from the same island and presumed you knew each others fighting abilities. That's why we let you fight it yourselves so we can learn by watching the battle." Skye said.

Teresa stared at her blankly.

"Such a magnificent and beautiful creature don't you think? Unlike awakened beings, they are elegant and majestic unlike what the organisation has created." Marcus said, watching as the beast circled them furiously, looking as if it was ready to pounce at any second.

"You speak as if you know more than you should." Teresa said suspiciously.

"I'm merely just like you. A fellow first ranking hybrid from another island." he said with a sly grin.

The beast decided to make it's move, and Skye responded by drawing her bow at blinding speed, firing three consecutive arrows against it's neck. The metallic arrows slammed into the beasts thick armour, but failed to penetrate the thick layers. The beast swiped it's remaining Claw at the group, pronging the number ones to evade the blow by leaping backwards.

"Interesting weapon choice, but I wonder how you will injure it?" Teresa said, landing safely on the ground a small distance away next to Skye and the others.

Skye spared Teresa a quick glance, then returned her attention upon the stampeding creature that raced towards them yet again.

Her eyes turning a demonic yellow, Skye loaded another arrow to her bow, and this time, taking more time to focus her shot. She fired the arrow, and at the same time, released a powerful shockwave in front of her, the large torrent of air accelerating the arrow.

The super fast projectile easily pierced the creature through the chest, running all the way though it and slamming into the thick rock that was the Colosseums outer walls.

* * *

The infinite silence and serenity was disturbed when the smallest of senses was suddenly felt. The tips of her fingers pulsated with feeling as they touched a surface for the first time in god knows when. Her body had been reformed, and gravity suddenly anchored her to her knees. By the time her mind had stopped spinning, she began to realise there was something very odd about the nature of her surroundings. Her heart skipped a beat when she suddenly felt the pressure of a ghastly youki near her vicinity.

Rafaela turned around and saw a monstrosity she'd never thought was even possible. It was a titanic awakened being that took the form of two humanoids that were fused together in a horrific manner, each one with a single bone-framed wing on each side. Blood oozed from wounds that seemed to have naturally formed from sheer pain and exhaustion the creature was obviously under.

"_What The hell is that?_

The awakened didn't give Rafaela a lot of time to think about it as a giant tentacle was thrown her way, managing to dodge the appendage and the other half a dozen that followed suit afterwards.

_Having no clothes on my back and not a sword in my arms...how inconvenient..._

During a series of carefully orchestrated acrobatics to avoid the many attacks, something had caught the corner of Rafaela's eyes. A glimmer of a human-like figure lay resting at the base of the destroyer, not from from where she had originated. With a newfound determinedness, Rafaela headed towards it and was horrified to see someone she never thought possible.

_Sister? _

A person Rafaela swore was her sister, Lucielia, lay unconscious on a cushion of organic matter at the base destroyer.

Rafaela scurried over to the body, and upon further inspection, all doubts left her mind. From the way she wore her hair in bunches to the yoki she emitted, this was definitely her sister, the person she loved more than the world itself.

In a split second decision, Rafaela threw her unconscious sister over her shoulder, and proceeded to make distance away from the destroyer.

As she exited the creatures physical reach, Rafaela was shocked to see the lands around it littered with giant organic poles, and corpses of awakened beings that looked strangely familiar to that of her sister's awakened form.

Among all the bodies before her, one of them suddenly began to move its limbs, and before long, it got to its feet and headed towards their direction, claws at the ready. To her surprise, the creature collapsed to the ground before it even reached her, and hundreds of miniature poles sprang outwards, racing towards them.

Determined to protect her unconscious sister, Rafaela sprang backwards in an attempt to evade the projectiles, but soon realised that protecting two lives during a battle was far more difficult that she first thought. Her agility had been dramatically reduced carrying the weight of another body, and quickly came to the realisation that it was unavoidable for a few of them to hit.

Rafaela made a split second decision to use her own body as a shield to protect her sister and spun around, causing a few of the objects to pierce her flesh and a thundering Pain oozed through her body. But she didn't think much of it. She had experienced worst pains before.

A ghastly moan came from the destroyer, and the earth beneath her feet shook as something was happening with the awakened being. Rafaela was horrified to see its enormous body suddenly crumbling apart, collapsing into itself, creating a large organic mess in it's wake. The rods that had impaled her withered off and died, blown apart by the gentle touch of the wind.

"I never thought i'd see you again...Here, catch this." a hooded figure said, glaring at her from atop of a small cliffside.

Rafaela turned to the direction of the voice, catching the fabric that was tossed to her. She placed it neatly around herself and her sister. The figure released no yoki, but looked strangely similar to a warrior of the organisation. It wasn't long before Rafaela recognised her, though with scars around her lifeless eyes left many questions in her mind.

"Galatea... what's going on?

"I was hoping you'd tell me...and just who is that in your arms? Number five...Rafaela." Galatea said.

"Though you are currently blind, you've always been good at sensing yoki. And seeing as you no longer wear the organisation's uniform, I'm assuming you no longer work for them. So I'll tell you what, you tell me everything I must know and i'll answer all your questions."

"That sounds like a fair deal." Galatea said.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed that :)

with regards to Rafealea, the author of Claymore never told us what actually happened between Irene and Rafaela, so this is my version of the events :D

anyways, I suppose this story could go many ways from here on out. i guess i can bring the three resurrected ones into the story as well, or do something entirely else entirely. I'm not sure at this moment. Let me know what you guys think and let me know if you like this new chapter or not, I'm rather curious what people think of it.

please leave a review if you liked/disliked it and give me some feedback so i can improve on the story or anything else :D

until next time.


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43

As promised here is the next chapter.

i hope you guys like it :D

* * *

On the seventeenth floor of the Colosseum, Rubel gazed through the giant glass windows at the battlefield below him . He sat comfortably on his freshly issued leather chair, in his new office located on the 9th floor of the Colosseum. This level was reserved for high ranking members only and after his many years of service , he was finally given his promotion. The office was equipped with a giant glass window that allowed for a perfect view of the innards of the doughnut shaped building, a perfect place to conduct his research.

However, it wasn't exclusively built for research reasons, but also served as a means for the organisation to show off their creations to the rest of the world. The giant Colosseum was the first piece of propaganda the organisation first used against the dragon-kin and their many ancient warriors.

Over the past many decades, the creation of those creatures called 'claymores' were the most dominant and powerful they had created. Human, mostly female, turned into a creature that makes use of a power some would even call demonic. They were the only things that could face the dragon-kin so far.

"I want to speak with you." a voice said from behind.

Rubel turned around and was surprised to see a man in black and a pair of regulators enter the room.

"Why hello there. I must say that i'm surprised to see you here Orsay." I wonder how you managed to find me?" Rubel said, looking genuinely surprised to see such an old Colleague.

Orsay walked into the room with two regulators following closely behind him. They stopped before his marble desk, their eyes glancing at the large window behind Rubel.

"I heard a rumour and I just wanted to see if it was true."

"What rumour did you hear exactly?"

"That a certain number one has been revived from the dead." Orsay said.

Orsay moved towards the window and shot his gaze downwards. He quickly took notice of the figure doing battle in the centre of the Colosseum. Teresa was exactly the same now as from his memories. The same long hair that waved so elegantly in the wind as she destroyed her opponents, and the same fluid movements that screamed of a combination of arrogance and pride. She was always the most interesting among the others, and was always his favourite.

"Teresa was the highlight of your career wasn't she?" Rubel said, a grin on his face: "Ever since she was killed your career went nowhere but downhill after that isn't that right? If I remember correctly, they said it was your failure as a trainer that she lost control and met her end."

"Teresa was like a curse. When she left so did my name in the organisation. But now that she's back I just can't ignore that fact now can I? Also, I can't help but think you may have had something to do with her death." Orsay said, giving Rubel a suspicious stare.

Rubel smirked: "My my such an accusation made against me. May I just ask, how is it that you discovered her resurrection?"

Through the shadows of his hood Orsay replied: "You had everyone convinced that Jeves was killed merely by a rogue experiment. Though your explanation why Teresa's corpse was missing was a little more sketchy. I usually don't pay attention to information given to me by warriors, but when Audrey told us about Teresa and your involvement in her resurrection, there was little doubt in my mind she was lying given the evidence she presented to us."

"So Rimuto knows about Teresa's existence?"

Orsay smiled: "Yes, and of course your request for Raftella is also denied. I'm not sure what you were planning to use her for, but i'm afraid i've been asked to escort you back to the island for questioning."

Rubel tightened his grip on the handles on his chair from sheer frustration. For the first time things hadn't gone his way, and the little game he played all the way until now had backfired.

_Well played Audrey...well played...but if you think its over then you are mistaken._

* * *

After wondering eastwards while carrying her unconscious sister, Rafaela along with Galatea stumbled across the ruins of a small town, and decided to head towards it. Those giant rods from the destroyer had long annihilated any form of life in such a place, but ever since the destroyer died, the rods remained completely lifeless, with some of them being eroded merely by the wind and others as remained lifeless and as dead trees.

Breaking the door off an intact building, Rafaela walked in the building, grabbing whatever clothes she could find for her and her sister. She returned Galatea her cloak, and placed Luciela against a nearby lounge, taking a few steps back to collect her thoughts while watching her sister sleep soundly.

"How long has it been since that time?"

"Your going to have to be more specific..." Galatea replied, focused on the monstrous yoki lurking nearby.

"How long ago was the battle of Isley and Luciela?" Rafaela said, not entirely comfortable with Galatea's murderous thoughts of her sibling.

"That was about seven years ago."

"So it's been that long..."

Much to the surprise of both of them, Lucielia quickly regained her conciousness, first twitching her fingers then finally opening her eyes. She placed a hand on her temples as she sat upright, rubbing her eyes to clear her confusion. She quickly recognised a stumped Rafaela.

"Rafaela...It's you...what's...what's going on? What happened before?" she said weakly, in a state of daze herself.

Rafaela didn't know how to respond to her sister. What was she supposed to say after their last encounter seven years ago?

"The forest...Isley...he hurt me and then..."Luciela said weakly, mistrust and confusion evident in her words: "and then you came Rafaela. I finally saw you and then you...hurt me as well... Why?...why would you do that Rafaela? I'm your sister and I trusted you so why would you do such a thing?"

Rafaela's eyes shot wide open from seeing her sister looking at her in such a strange mistrustful manner. Guilt twisted her insides, and she answered slowly: "Your awakening was my failure as a sister. I merely did what I thought was right."

Luciela seemed lost to her own thoughts for a moment, but it wasn't long before her glaring eyes beamed with new life as she made her way to Rafaela.

"But it wasn't your choice was it Rafaela? they made you do it? Didn't they?" Luciela said hysterically," But don't worry Rafaela, I forgive you. I know you would never hurt me by your own will."

"Sister..."

She wrapped her arms around Rafaela and sobbed: " It's all their fault Rafaela. They hurt us both. But together we can defeat them and anyone who stands between us. You don't have to listen to them anymore. I'll be here to protect you forever from them and in return you protect me ok?"

A tear came from Rafaela's eye as she held her sister in her arms once again. She still wasn't entirely sure if it was the right thing to rescue her sister in the first place, but at the same time was ecstatic to see her again.

"Yes...we will destroy them..." Rafaela said, tightening her hand to a fist.

"I hate to ruin such precious moments," Galatea said, drawing the attention of both sisters: "But there have been major developments during the past seven years you guys were unconscious. And i'm sure you would love to hear them."

"And who are you?" Luciela said, looking as if she took notice of Galatea only now.

"Galatea, former number three of the organisation. And you must be the fabled Luciela of the south. A pleasure."

"It almost looks as if your attempting flattery in hopes I won't kill you?" Lucelia said, a playful, yet sinister grin on her face.

"You can kill me, but then you wouldn't know the current state of the organisation or its lands..."

"We will be heading to take the organisation down as soon as we can. Tell us everything we need to know and we will be on our way." Rafaela said.

* * *

Audrey glanced at all the shadowy faces around her, a situation that always made her feel uneasy. The many men of the organisation council chambers sat around the room in an array around her, all their faces hidden in the shadows.

Yesterday, Irene and Ophelia had led the ghosts towards a secret shipyard located in the northern-eastern section of the island, away from the headquarters located towards the far east. While they headed off to the mainland, Audrey left them, and instead headed back towards headquarters to confront Rimuto and the other councilmen.

"Why did you come back and warn us about Rubel? You could have gone over to the mainland and avoided this whole tragedy. You must have known that by coming back you would be executed anyway. " Rimuto said, folding his hands together as he sat comfortably in his seat in the organisations council chambers, scrutinising the warrior before him, demanding an answer.

"I have my reasons for doing things, and you have yours. Let's respectfully leave it at that if we may." Audrey said.

"Certainly this cannot be for your benefit...It would make no sense for you to betray us and then help us for no reason."One of the dark figures said from the far left side of the room.

Audrey quickly took notice of a pair of silver eyes glaring out of the shadows on the opposite end of the room. She found this very peculiar. She quickly identified who it probably was.

_Raftela..._

"Answer the question!" the man yelled.

Returning her attention upon the men, Audrey replied irritably. :"May I ask, who are you to demand anything from me? I abandoned my duty and deemed a traitor by your organisation. I have no obligation to answer your questions."

"An arrogant one..." another one of them grumbled from the side.

"This is what happens when they live for too long." Another said.

Rimuto lent forward from his seat, analysing this warrior that dared to respond in such an arrogant manner: "So then do you have any final words?"

"I do actually. Why wasn't I introduced to all of my comrades?"

Rimuto stared at her blankly, the other men whispered things to themselves.

"What do you mean?" he said.

"Number 10. Raftela has never been introduced to me. I would like to formally introduce myself to her if you don't mind."

The men grumbled amongst themselves, and Rimuto looked over to his side at Raftela who he had instructed to remain in the shadows. He was surprised to see Raftela responding strangely to the words Audrey had said. The warrior had received special anti- warrior training and lived in isolation where any sort of emotion was seen as a disturbance to her potential. But for the first time in a long time, her face showed clear sighs of an emotional response.

"That will not be happening." He said as he turned back to Audrey.

A few of the organisation's ninjas approached the former number three, ready to strike at her if given the order. They held long wooden,yet sharp spears that could probably kill her, if they managed to even hit her.

"Do you really think they are enough to stop me?" Audrey said, her arms crossed.

Their attention turned when the sound of a Claymore's metal boots hit the stone floor from the far side of the room. Audrey was pleased to see Raftela exiting the shadows and walking towards her, a shy yet interested look to her.

"Pleased to meet you, I can't imagine how boring it must have been for you in this place, there's a lot to talk about." Audrey said to the newcomer.

"It's...nice...to meet you as well." Raftela said nervously.

"Look at you. It's so cute that you're nervous at meeting your first friend."

"Friend?" Raftela blushed.

"Kill her now." Rimuto ordered.

The organisations henchmen thrust their spears against Audrey, but the former number three showed them exactly why she was considered among all warriors to possess one of the most efficient defensive styles. Her gentle sword made their attacks useless, and one by one they were overpowered by the claymore. Her sheer strength and speed just too overwhelming for their humanly bodies to handle.

Dozens more flooded the room, and a sense of lightheadedness quickly set upon Audrey. Her sense of direction and sense of space was warped ever so little, not bad enough to effect her skills in combat too much, but made it quite a bit more inconvenient when being forced to defend herself from at least five attacks at the same time coming from all directions.

She raised her yoki level a notch and kicked one of the men in the chest so hard he broke two sets of walls on collision. Another swept at her from the left, she dodged the attack and feigned another, grabbed her attackers' arm and tossing him against a dozen others.

"What are you doing! How could you still be on their side after all that?" Audrey yelled from frustration.

"I'm not doing it." Raftela said.

It was at this time when Audrey took notice of another strange warrior standing near the exit doorway of the chambers. The warrior didn't even emit a scrape of yoki, but remained in the shadows as a quiet observer for most of the fight. Something was telling her that the source of her sudden loss of distance and space resoning had something to do with her.

_Who the hell is that? I can't even sense anything in that direction..._

"Oh dear it seems i've been caught out." the strange warrior said, stepping out of the shadows.

Before her stood a very feminine- looking warrior with pale wavy haired pulled into two pigtails on either side of her head. A smirk resided against her gentle-looking face with a single noticeable beauty mark resting under her eye.

Immediately Audrey's senses returned back to normal and she finished off the remaining men with little effort.

"What the hell is going on here! She's not supposed to be alive yet! Where is Dae? Where are the rest of the warriors?" Rimuto stormed as he rose to his feet from anger.

"If you mean the man with the weird face he's dead. He was far too ugly for me to let him live. Besides he probably touched my body all over while I slept and that's a discussing thought. Eww." the strange warrior said.

"Just who are you?" Audrey said.

"Roxanne, former number one recently resurrected. At least I think I was resurrected." Roxanne said, placing a single finger against her lip as she pondered to herself: "Come to think of it I don't even know where I am exactly."

"Number one? Former?" Audrey said, glaring strangely at Roxanne.

"Rimuto! We're under attack from the outside as well! Apparently among the intruders, one of them is an abyssal!." A man yelled from the far end of the room, his voice reeking of desperation.

"An abyssal one? Why would an abyssal attack the organisation head on?" Rimuto yelled.

"We have no idea but we must evacuate now!"

At the sound of this a momentary panic ensured among the men as they threw themselves out of their seats and scattered towards the nearest exits.

While the organisations men scattered around the room, Audrey couldn't stop thinking about the strangeness about this warrior called Roxanne. She had a gentle face, but her smile felt very deceptive and fake, something that gave her the creeps.

"Say, that sword technique you use to defend yourself from is very interesting." Roxanne said, her eyes now showing a strange sense of excitement to them: "It certainly appears to be very efficient and worthy of single digit status."

Audrey lowered her blade as her cheeks flushed red from the praise she had received from Roxanne. For her it was quite the honour to be praised by a former number one.

"I appreciate it, but may I request aid from yourself? If there really is an abyssal one attacking this place then I must help my comrades." Audrey said kindly.

A smile came across Roxanne's lips, and the number one raised her blade against Audrey.

"What are you doing?"

"First let me test that ability of yours out for a little bit..." Roxanne said with a strange grin.

"What?"

Audrey almost fell over from the fright she received when Roxanne suddenly appeared before her, their eyes mere inches apart.

"Quite disappointing... For a number three you are a little slower than average." she whispered softly into Audrey's ear.

Audrey threw her blade in an uppercut and was surprised to notice Roxanne parry in a manner that seemed very odd. It was almost as if she struggled to defend herself, something very strange given the fact that Roxanne was a former first ranking warrior. As she threw more blows against her, Audrey quickly noticed that more and more of her strikes weren't harshly parried, but most were now lightly redirected off to the sides in a manner very similar to her gentle sword technique, though her methods far inferior to the original version.

Audrey wasn't sure if Roxanne was faster than Teresa or Miria, but at this point it was clear to her that Roxanne was merely toying with her and was at a level far further than herself.

Roxanne threw a single, powerful side swipe of her blade, but Audrey managed to redirect its strength off to another direction and causing it to miss entirely. Roxanne's eye's widened at the sight of this. It was clear she was getting quite excited.

"Hey that was good! Just how did you do that now!" Roxxane said hysterically as she feigned at attack coming from her left side. A large grin settling on her face as she eyed Audrey adoringly while continuing her crude attempts at copying her technique.

"What do you think you are doing? Now of all times you want to do this?" Audrey said, a drop of sweat running down the side of her face as she narrowly dodged a barrage of Roxanne's attacks against her.

A chill ran down Audrey's spine. At this point she was still unsure whether Roxanne's battle intentions were a friendly sparing match or if she was in fact, crazy to some point. However by now it was clear to her that Roxanne was attempting to replicate her gentle sword technique, and this she found quite concerning for some reason.

Their blades met in mid air, crossed over each other as the battle now moved over to a contest of pure strength as they each tried to overpower the other. Audrey grinded her teeth from sheer frustration, barely able to hold back Roxanne's superior muscular strength. Audrey was forced backwards until she was backed into a wall, her own double-edged blade almost digging into her chest as Roxanne had her pinned down with her own blade.

"Your technique accounts for nothing if you can't move your blade." Roxanne said cunningly, applying ever more force against Audrey's blade that dug deeper into her own chest.

Audrey instantly released half of her yoki in an attempt to overpower Roxanne, but the added strength accounted for nothing in the end. Roxanne proved to be a warrior that was just plain and simple far superior in every aspect.

"It's no use you'll never escape like that."

Grinding her teeth from the pain, Audrey was sure this was the moment she would die. She knew that Roxanne could have easily sliced her in two pieces with her own blade if she wanted, but felt the relief of her life when Roxanne threw herself backwards in order to avoid a blade that came from her side.

The strike came from Raftela, the warrior holding her blade awkwardly in front of herself, a look of deep uncertainty on her face.

"If you kill her then you'll have to kill me as well." Raftela said.

Roxanne smiled Raftela's way, lowering her blade suddenly and looking over to the direction of the exit. She didn't look in the least bit interested in fighting anymore, in fact, it seemed that something else had caught her attention.

"Oh dear it appears as if the other two have regained their conciousness as well?"

"Other two?" Raftela said.

Audrey groaned from the deep wound against her chest, something Roxanne rolled her eyes over when she noticed.

"You're a defensive type right? Such a wound shouldn't be life threatening for you. So just stay right here and i'll be back alright? Then you tell me more about this mainland I heard of earlier." Roxanne said, sending a wink Audrey's way before she left for the exit.

* * *

thanks for reading.

As you can see I've decided to include the three resurrected ones in the plot, which will should make the story all the more interesting. At least i hope it will haha.

please take the time to **review** and tell me what you think. Even if its a small comment i would appreciate it. :)


	44. Chapter 44

chapter 44

i wanted to develop some of the main characters a little further, especially Teresa and Clare, and this is what i came up with. I hope people will like this chapter.

happy reading.

* * *

"Almost, but not quite." Teresa said, cunningly sidestepping Clare's frighteningly close attack to her side and responding with a clever counter. As she suspected Clare had reacted even before the strike was made, swiftly evading the blow as she had been doing the past few hours as well.

The two of them fought late in the afternoon deep at the centre of the empty colosseum, reacting to each others movements in perfect synchronization, almost as if the battle was perfectly orchestrated. It didn't matter how unpredictable or sudden each one of their strikes were, the other countered flawlessly.

They dashed towards each other front on, their blades clashing ensuing a momentary dust cloud in its wake. When the dust cloud disappeared, both Teresa and Clare could be seen in the middle with their blades crossed, engaged in a show of strength as one tried to overpower the other. Sparks flew from their blades as the sheer friction reached breaking point, their arms shook from the sheer tensity their muscles were no doubt under. The two stared at each other, their faces merely inches apart, separated only by their crossed blades. It appeared as though the two warriors were equally matched, with neither willing to yield.

Clare put a temporally end to the battle by leaping backwards, pronging her partner to do the same. The two warriors glared at each other from opposite ends, the only sound heard was the howling of the wind as it raced past them, and the gravel grinding under their feet as they stared each other down.

"That was good Clare. You're improving steadily.'" Teresa said, lowering her blade.

"In a sense we are at a stalemate. We can both anticipate each others moves before they are made, and act accordingly. An interesting set of events." Clare smiled.

"That appears to be the case, as complicated as that sounds."Teresa said, sheathing her blade and letting out a sigh of relief that their battle had finally ended.

Though she didn't want to admit it, Teresa was tired. Long training sessions with someone as skilled and as determined as Clare was incredibly taxing on her stamina. It was something rather new for her after all. Almost all her battles have been very short ones.

"Are you tired already? " Clare said.

Teresa raised a brow at this.

"No...of course not..."

"Good. Neither am I. We could continue for hours longer then."

"Hours longer?" Teresa sighed.

"I feel that the more I practice with you, the more power I seem to draw from deep within me. It's as if you're helping me synchronize my consciousness better with the powers I've inherited from you."

Teresa stared sharply at her, unsure of what to think of this new revelation. In one corner she was proud of Clare, but in the other she felt a little insecure about the massive potential she no doubt housed.

_Look at her..._

_If I'm not careful..._

_Clare could perhaps even surpass me._

_Wait...why am i bothered by this? __Because she has my powers? Or because she is reckless?_

She watched as Clare practiced against the air, swaying her sword through the air in silky smooth motions. Fast and opportunistic, that was Clare's fighting style.

_To surpass me..._

_Is that her goal?_

"Is something on your mind Teresa?"

At the sound of her voice, she snapped out of her thoughts and replied:

"No, it's nothing. Don't worry about it...But I'll stop holding back now I think."

Much to Clare's surprise, Teresa unleashed a torrent of yoki throughout her body, lighting her eyes into a bright gold. Though the yoki release was massive, her soft features remained completely untouched. She smiled at Clare softly.

"I think this should make things more interesting."

"Wait...are you sure about that? isn't that a little too much?" Clare said nervously.

"Don't tell me you can't handle it?" Teresa said, a mild smirk on her lips.

"No..it's fine..."

Clare raised her blade and prepared herself for Teresa's incoming offensive with a drop of sweat running down the side of her face. Though she could predict Teresa's moves, the sudden increase in speed Teresa gained from her release was simply overwhelming. Clare had already reacted even before her sparring partner attacked, but even then she only just managed to parry the opening strike due to the huge difference in speed alone. Sparks flew into the air as their claymores collided, their feet sliding against the gravel from the impact.

Clare grinded her teeth from the strain her body was under to keep up with Teresa. Her attacks, though predictable to her, were incredibly powerful and difficult to block let alone counter.

"Is that all you've got? Clare?" Teresa teased.

"No way...I'll never give up..."

Teresa's face lit up the moment she saw that determination on her face. Clare was outclassed in every aspect and yet she continued to fight on.

_This girl...really is something special..._

* * *

With Her hands over the railings and the wind gently swaying her hair, Teresa stood along sidelines of the colosseum in the darkness of the night gazing at the empty battlefield below her. She thought about Clare, and especially about the sparring match they had earlier. The girl would not give up even though the difference between them was simply too great. Whenever she swore Clare was ready to give up, she somehow managed to go just a little bit further every time.

Teresa didn't fully understand why, but there was a part of her that felt threatened by Clare. On one side she saw Clare as that little girl that followed her through that forest, and the other was what seemed like a reckless and naive warrior. The little girl had inherited her powers, and now threatened to succeed her with them. She chuckled at the thought, and tried not to let it bother her too much, but it was always at the back of her mind lately.

_Clare, just what are your intentions?_

Teresa released a sigh when she noticed Irene coming out of the shadows behind her. She really wasn't in the mood to talk at this moment.

"I don't remember saying any of the combatants are allowed to leave the dorms at night."" Irene said, walking up to the railings and taking her place next to her former comrade:.

"Oh and I suppose you came to put me in my place?...number one Irene?" Teresa teased.

Irene sighed: "I was wondering how you would react to my number one status... I thought you would find that interesting."

Teresa gazed upon her face for a moment , then softly smiled to herself.

"What are you smiling at? Teresa?"

"A number is just a number at the end of the day."

Irene stared at her blankly for a moment, then said: "I suppose your right...you would know very well about that..."

Teresa's face lowered slightly, as her mind cast itself back to that moment. A faded smile across her face :"Do you know what the worst part was back then?...The worst part wasn't the fact that Priscilla removed both my hands, but seeing the blade racing for my head and not being able to dodge it because my body didn't respond to me..."

Irene listened very closely to her words. It truly pained her to see such sadness on Teresa's face.

"...when you gain the upper hand, you'll die if you hesitate for too long. No matter how much more powerful you are to your opponent. You knew that very well Teresa."

Teresa flicked her face off to the side irritably: "I hope you didn't just come here to tell me that..."

"Actually now that you mention it I have come across some rather important news I was going to tell you."

"I suppose it may have something to do with the tournament being delayed?"

Irene nodded:"We have just received intel that there may be an insider within this facility. Other sources say that the dragon-Kin plan to attack this complex in two days and we are preparing as we speak."

"That really is very interesting..." Teresa said.

"Also the organization back on the island is currently on the brink of ruin and doing battle with a strange party. Reports say the abyssal one Luciela is among the invaders."

"Oh and just how would they hope to defeat the likes of her?" Teresa said.

"It appears as if they managed to perfect a technique which involves bringing intact corpses back to life, similar to how they brought you back I suppose. According to the reports I've seen, the top three most powerful number ones have been successfully brought back."

Teresa raised a brow. This news has caught her by surprise. She had met other first ranking warriors in the past before, but none of them had even come close to her or Priscilla's level. However, she had always been naturally curious about the legendary warriors of the organization's past, and had at times wondered what they were like, and how they compared.

"Among the three are Hysteria the Elegent, Roxanne of love and hate and even one called Cassandra the dust eater."

"Some of them did have such interesting titles." Teresa said.

Irene smirked: "it would also be interesting to see where you stand among the most powerful number ones in history, Teresa."

"I wouldn't mind to meet them." Teresa said with a faint smile.

The two of them stood on silence for a short moment simply enjoying the midnight breeze and the tranquility of their surroundings. Irene still couldn't believe that Teresa stood so closely before her, the warrior who she's always both adored and despised at the same time.

"Speaking of powerful, Clare is very impressive. Her power has seemed to rise considerably lately." Irene said.

"I am aware." she said stiffly.

Irene glared suspiciously at her, then smiled to herself: "Surely you're not threatened by her?"

_Threatened? _

Teresa snapped her face to her and gave her an odd stare. Surely such petty things were beyond her.

" No...of course not."

"Though you are superior to her now, surely it must have occurred to you that might not be the case forever."

Teresa sighed, tilting her posture lower as she rested closer against the railings. Never before has she felt so torn over something.

* * *

It was deep in the night when Clare woke to a strange sound nearby. Sitting up, she immediately noticed a figure swiftly leaving the dormitory, skillfully maneuvering her way through the room in dead silence. The figure then escaped into the shadows not long afterwards, and Clare sprung to her feet. She silently grabbed her Cloak and weapon and quickly took notice that Teresa was gone as well. Not thinking too much on it, she sped as fast and as silently as she could in pursuit.

She kept her distance, watching as the figure skillfully maneuvered her way through the establishment while avoiding any trouble from lookouts. Using the darkness to their advantage, Clare was led to the outer wall of the organization's city, then beyond even this.

Dodging the last few guards, Clare leapt off the cities giant outer wall, and landing as silently as she could on the mangroves below. The ground instead being scorched and dead, teamed with life here. A blanket of thick grass and plant life were all that they eye could see, tainted softly by the light touch of the moon in the background. She followed until they had reached the crest of a hill, the figure now standing in silence and gazing off to the distance with the wind blowing gently throughout.

Clare walked up to the figure, and her heart jumped when she anticipated a strike coming towards her left shoulder. Reacting even before the strike was made, Clare parried the strike with ease. Normally, she couldn't sense Pricilla's yoki, but it seemed as if her nerves have loosened her abilities ever so slightly and made it so possible for that instant.

"Thought I'd follow you." Clare said, taking notice of the astonished look on Priscilla's face.

"I'm sorry...I thought you may have been someone else."Priscilla said, lowering her blade.

Clare walked up to her, the nightly winds playing rather harshly with both their long dangling robes as they both looked in the same common direction.

"i would watch my back more carefully if I was you. Ophelia is very unpredictable. " Clare said.

"Thanks for the advice, though the same could also apply to you as well."

" I suppose your right. But why are you here?"

"Before, I often ran away to places such as these so I could try to remember my past...but now..."

She then turned to face Clare, a slight smirk across her lips: "I hate them. I hate the organization so much. I'm going to rip them to pieces for what they did to me. Im here because I'm contemplating whether..."

"Whether to awaken and annihilate the city yourself..." Clare finished off her sentence.

"Irene told me these pills merely act as a super suppressant that temporarily reverts an awakened one to a hybrid. I could turn back at any moment now anyway' and it probably won't be the same as going over the limit by my own free will..."

A devious smile came across Priscilla's lips as she added, sounding more and more excited as she went on: "To awaken again...I've always wanted to feel that surge I felt at that time...and I can do it any time I feel like...but for some reason I'm following someone else's plan..."

At the sound of this, Clare shot her blade towards Priscilla, the calming silence around them was disrupted by the sound of steel clashing with steel as her strike was solidly parried. Nearby trees and bushes tussled as birds and other creatures were disturbed by the clashing sound of their giant blades.

"I didn't come here to talk to you. I came here to ask you for a favor." Clare said.

Priscilla stared blankly at her.

"I need somebody who can face me all out without getting themselves killed in the process. If you do end up being killed then you don't have what it takes to destroy the organization anyway." Clare said.

"Why not train with Teresa? Why me?." Priscilla said.

"I dare not fight her like I would fight you."

Priscilla frowned at the sound of that. Something was telling her whatever was coming next wasn't going to be good for her.

Clare Raised her yoki beyond the usual safety limit, large pulsating veins shot put of her skin. her movements and speed increased considerably, approaching the level of her opponent more and more.

"In order for me to get stronger I must learn to control my awakening and use its power to my advantage. I hope you understand why I feel this way."

Priscilla smirked: "I understand. It's only natural that you would want to surpass Teresa."

Clare froze when she heard those words, leveling her yoki release for a moment. She looked straight into Priscilla's eyes with dead seriousness: " I don't care at all about that."

"What else do you want power for?" Priscilla asked, baffled.

"All that I want is to be strong enough to protect her."

Priscilla stared at her oddly, she was rather surprised at both the answer she was given and the genuine smile across Clare's face. Judging by the battle the two of them had earlier she assumed Clare's intentions were to surpass Teresa.

"So your willing to risk it all for her sake?"

Clare lightly nodded.

"I see. Then what are you waiting for?"

Taking in a deep breath, Clare flooded the channels in her left arm with a torrent of yoki, causing the very muscle and bone to twist and bend as the flesh awakened. With her arm awakened, she sped towards an alarmed Priscilla, who managed to side steps the swipe from the claw like appendage, and block her sword strike with her own blade.

"Is that all you got?" Priscilla smirked.

Clare hastily stabbed her claymore Towards Pricilla's head, but the petite warrior limbo dodged the attack by a hair's breath and spun around, her cloak momentarily disorientating her opponent as it flashed by her. In reaction to this, Clare's yoki levels increased even further as she harnessed more and more power.

"You really just might awaken..." Priscilla said, pulling her blade inwards in anticipation for Clare's second attack.

"Fight me like you fought Teresa back then. I'll know if you hold back." Clare said,

Priscilla smiled: "Your not allowed to run off to Teresa if I hurt you."

Irritated, Clare continued the exchange, keeping Priscilla on her toes with her clever attacks that now seemed similar to Teresa, however different in her own unique way. While Teresa fought with upmost elegance in her sword swings, Clare, on the other hand seemed more of an opportunist, exploiting weaknesses in her opponents movement and balance and timed her attacks accordingly.

Despite this, Priscilla skillfully evaded a powerful swing from Clare's claw, sprang around and threw a kick against her's side, slamming her into a nearby tree. On impact, Clare clung to the branches with her claws, then ran down the edge of the tree and rapidly awakened both her legs.

_Seriously?_

Priscilla was left wide eyed as Clare shot past her at a speed she was not expecting. Bulleting by the side, Clare managed to slash her deeply across her right shoulder, a gush of blood coming from the wound. The slash had torn at the side of her cloak and easily penetrated the thin leather she wore turned around and attended to the wound sheepishly.

_That's not funny...she could have aimed for my head and I could have been dead..._

Priscilla drew from the deep reserve within her body, summoning greater levels of speed and strength at her bodies disposal. Her eyes flashed golden and her muscle mass increased ever so slightly with light veins appearing on the side of her eyes.

"I really am terrible at controlling this power... But I'll try not to go too far" Priscilla said.

"You better hope that's enough!." Clare stormed, appearing from the side and swinging her blade elegantly off to the sides in rapid succession.

The efficient drawing technique of the wind cutter was simply countered by Brute force as Priscilla's ordinary movements rivaled the technique itself. Though she was approaching her limit, Clare couldn't believe it when Priscilla still managed to catch her off balance and send a powerful enough strike to make her let go of her blade.

Without her main weapon, Clare forced Priscilla back with her powerful swipe of her awakened Claw, all at the same time keeping an eye at her sword that flew threw the air from the exchange. She bulleted off to the side and caught it just in time to parry Priscilla's strike against her.

"You really are something..." Priscilla said.

Clare shot off to the side and disappeared behind the darkness of the thick vegetation and trees around them. Priscilla could hear the sound of her dashing through the forest, appearing from the left and then from the right. She threw her blade behind herself as she managed to parry Clare's passing blade that swiped at her as she suddenly rocketed past her, disappearing into the bushes almost immediately afterwards.

"Hey doing this is cheap!" Priscilla said, trying her best to figure out where Clare would attack next.

When Clare emerged again, Priscilla managed to side step the next attack, spin around and grab Clare's sword arm and using the momentum of her own speed to spin her into a nearby overgrown and ancient looking tree.

Clare slid down the side after the impact, and Priscilla watched on as Clare recovered amazingly quickly, getting to her feet in no time.

Her eyes widened again when Clare awakened her remaining right arm. The limb transformed into a series of long and dangerous looking organic hooks that cascaded over each other. Each one of those many, many razor sharp appendages would simply obliterate anything they managed to touch.

"You sure about that? revert now or you will awaken..."

"I'm fine, just concentrate on my attacks..." Clare said in a surprisingly ordinary tone, though looking as if it was taking considerable effort to maintain such a state.

"How are you able to hold it back? I don't get it!" Priscilla cried.

"just shut up and don't die!"

Priscilla frowned before she was forced to defend herself from Clare's offensive yet again. The massive appendages moving so quickly and cunningly that they threatened to tear her apart completely. Though she had already released half her dormant powers, she had always been vastly inefficient at controlling the flow. She was nowhere near as powerful as her full awakened form, even when she released so much.

"Careful, You just might push me over the edge." Priscilla yelled, her movements now being rivaled by her opponents.

A few of the blades managed to slash Priscilla across the cheek, causing her to growl in annoyance and swinging her blade Clare's way for real this time. Clare avoided the attack seemingly effortlessly, sending back exchanges twice as deadly and powerful. The former number two quickly found herself unable to keep up with Clare's increasingly powerful attacks, and was forced to use the environment in order to avoid being killed. Nature, however, didn't seem to stack up against Clare's fury either. Those razor sharp appendages smashed into the side of giant trees and rocks, severing the objects almost entirely.

After a while of this, however, Clare quickly fell to her knees, reverting her body back to its original state, panting heavily from exhaustion. The huge power she had summoned from her body clearly required an equal amount to willpower to maintain.

"Damn it...just a little further..." Clare said, coursing the dirt with her fingers, angry at herself for not able to go any further.

"That must be very exhausting for you... but you need to have a rest." Priscilla said, reverting to normal as well, though not looking happy about it.

"No way, I'm not tired at all... I can still..."

"Relax and sit down. You don't want to end up like me do you?"

Clare sighed and collapsed towards the ground, leaning against a collapsed tree stump. Priscilla leapt across the various tree branches around them, until she arrived at one to her liking and sat down against it to gaze at the city before her. Under the darkness of the night, the two opposites sat nearby, both enjoying the tranquil nature of their environment.

Priscilla turned to face the warrior below her and smiled:

"Remember when I said you could kill me and I wouldn't put any resistance? Well, I'm sorry but I've changed my mind about that. If you want to kill me then you'll just have to get stronger than me."

Clare's spared her a quick glance, her heart still glowing with remnants of hatred for this person.

"That's alright, just don't keep your guard down until then." Clare teased.

"I'll keep that in mind. Let me know when your ready to continue." the former number two said as she rested her head against the base of the tree and closed her eyes in rest. The night was going to be a long one for them both.

* * *

Im not sure if people will like the drama in this chapter, but i hope i succeeded in what i tried to do here. There is just way too much to work with between these characters :P

if you liked the chapter then please review and leave a comment. If you have any suggestions i would also be glad to hear them.

thanks for reading!


	45. Chapter 45

Thanks for the reviews guys, i really appreciate it. As for this chapter i kind of went all out...well, because why not? I brought back someone i think people may appreciate, as well as developed a little on some other side characters.

Ann .E Casap: Wow thanks for that review, that was quite an uplifting thing for me to read. I do what i can and i'm glad there are people out there like you to share the story with :) and don't worry i don't think i'll drop this story. Its kind of my side-hobby at this point. I like the characters in Claymore, and its not really my style to kill them off like Yagi. or is it?

claymorerox123: thank you also for the review:) as with the above person. almost 500 reviews now!

Dragonjek: The conflict between Teresa and Clare is a strange place for me to visit. Sometimes i just feel like an evil person and just like to throw in some drama for the sake of it. I'm not sure how far i'll take it, but we'll see. Don't worry about Raki, i'll try not to make him too overpowered as some people have mentioned before. Oh and don't worry about Ophelia. She's be sure to mess things up :)

Ashen Assassin: I will keep it up :) and i like Clare, so you don't have to worry about her being weak forever. .

Comfy Pillow: I just love to hate Roxanne. I wonder how she will end up in the manga...

Rickmer : Perhaps Teresa is already there watching? lol.

Maegashira: Because Audrey is boss ;)

I thank everyone else for their reviews and enjoy.

* * *

Isley lay against the ground in his awakened form, beaten half to death by the demons that had chased him relentlessly. These creatures had torn away at his flesh, removed three of his four legs, and left deep marks and and lacerations scattered across his wounded body. He had already killed five of the brutes, and if he killed just one more, they would all retreat and give him a change to live on just a little bit longer.

With all his willpower, Isley threw the remainder of his blade at an incoming abyssal feeder, aiming for its head and wishing with all his being that it would hit its target. He watched on hopefully, as his appendage sped towards the target.

He roared with excitement when it ripped through the creatures head and killing it instantly.

Just as he suspected, the other five began to retreat, scurrying away in random directions, returning back into their den within the organization.

_Filthy brutes...and they think i'm a monster._

Reverting his body back to his human form, Isley lay flat against the ground, arms spread out as he stared into the sky enjoying his short moment of victory. It would be a while before the next wave of them arrived, and that would give him just a little more time to think of his next move, if he even had one.

His moment of peace was ruined, however when he felt the presence of somebody nearby.

"So this is the dweller of the deep. Isley. I thought you were already dead." a strange, feminine voice said from the side.

He turned his head and noticed a powerful figure standing before him. A being with an impressive power. Though it appeared she had no allegiance with the organization, it was clear she possessed a power only they were able to grant. He was particularly stricken by her long elegant hair, and perplexed at the nature of her milky white eyes.

"Forgive me but I don't think we've met before. I'm Isley, and yourself?

"Galatea."

"Galatea huh? you must have had a high rank," Isley said, returning his gaze back towards the sky as he lay on the ground comfortably: "Someone as powerful as yourself had no problem hiding from the organization for many years no doubt. You have a marvelous ability to hide your yoki."

Galatea smiled to herself before replying mischievously: "Laying on the ground like that and saying such things...it almost sounds like your attempting flattery as a last resort for survival."

Isley smiled back, sitting up and reaching over for his cloak that he had thrown aside earlier.

"In my current state I probably wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight, so if you've come to kill me then your just wasting your time, because those things will be back to finnish me off in a matter of hours away."

"That's assuming they aren't killed off in the process." Galatea said.

Isley raised a brow.

"I suppose it might be interesting for you to know that Luciela and her sister are heading to destroy the organization as we speak. If you're lucky perhaps they will destroy those abyssal feeders before they even come back for you."

Isley sat up, staring at her with intense interest: "Luciela is alive?"

"Does that frighten you?" Galatea teased.

"Too be honest I thought that woman was long dead but it appears I was wrong," Isley said, taking slow movement towards a cautious Galatea, the blind warrior raising her blade in defiance.

"That's close enough Silvery king."

Isley stopped in his tracks as he gazed upon her. A smile came across his face. He secretly enjoyed such titles. Though he heard her clearly, he continued walking towards her stubbornly.

"Do you have a death wish?" Galatea warned.

"Surely in my current state I have no chance to hurt someone as powerful as yourself."

Galatea smiled at the sound of his sleek voice. She didn't know what he looked like, but judging by the sound of his voice, he didn't appear to be as monstrous as she had imagined.

Her intense interest in his voice was superseded by a growing wariness as he edged ever closer. She aimed her her blade at him, and kept the posture until the man pushed his throat against the tip with an almost arrogant confidence. The sharp edge threatening to pierce the delicate flesh. Galatea raised her brow in annoyance. This man was starting to get on her nerves.

"Are you mocking me?" Galatea said, her blade still poking at him.

"Not at all. I believe you are perfectly capable of killing me its just tha..." his sentence was cut short when he noticed Galatea pull her blade back quickly and and attempt to slice him in two.

Though his powers had been almost completely drained, Isley skillfully dodged Galatea's side swing of her massive Claymore that threatened to slice him in half.

Startled by his impressive movements, Galatea leapt backwards, disengaging from combat momentarily. Isley responded by doing the same, and the two commenced at a mental stare down. Only one of them could see, but the other could read yoki far better than the other.

"That you were able to dodge that with a body that has the strength of an ordinary human is astounding I'll give you that. You truly are a master fighter even among our kind and I see that you truly do live up to your name."

A proud smirk swept across Isley's face. He almost felt embarrassed from the praise.

"However..." Galatea added: " if I leave you alone then you will most probably feed on a innocent human and I can't have that really."

"And you think they are so innocent?"

Galatea paused at his words. She knew what he meant, but only now did it seem to make a little more sense to her.

"They aren't all innocent, though you do not differentiate between them. Man, woman, child are all the same for you in the end. They are nothing more but prey to you."

"Now that you mention it I haven't eaten in a while..." Isley said, collapsing against a nearby boulder and leaning comfortably against it: " I really do feel all washed up..."

"Tell me, do you feel remorse when feed on a human?"

Isley chuckled lightly: "Sometimes a little. Though I'm not used to preparing my own meals so lately I've had to get my hands dirty so I could survive. Really not my style."

Galatea smirked: "Evading an opening strike is one thing, but evading a flurry of attacks becomes next to impossible. And you don't have a weapon."

"So when are you going to stop toying with me?" he sighed.

"I was hoping just a little longer too be honest. You are the mastermind behind pieta where many of my comrades were killed, after all so it's only natural that I feel obliged to kill you."

" I merely wanted to extend my territory back then. It's not really my fault the organization wanted to stop me. Besides, the organization was foolish enough to send such few warriors. To me it seemed like they wanted to kill the group off." Isley said.

"And this is all because of your woman...Priscilla?"

Isley's attention shot from the cloud he had been admiring back on to Galatea at the surprise of hearing that name. Indeed Priscilla was the reason for his invasion of the Southern lands. Nobody dared to touch him when Priscilla was around.

"Do you know about her? Was she with a young man by any chance?"

"In a matter of fact the two of them have joined a rebellion against the organization only recently."

He fell into a light chuckle as he said:

"So then Priscilla has regained her memories at last then? I wonder what she's like. It's hard for me to imagine because that girl acted more like an animal when we travelled together. More difficult to care for than one as well. But traveling with her along with Raki during these past few years I suppose had me grow close to them in a way."

Galatea listened to his words closely, but a sudden surge in youki had caught her attention. Much to her surprise, it was coming in the direction of Rabona city. She clenched her jaws in her frustration, something which Isley quickly took notice of.

"is there something wrong?" Isley said.

Her thoughts caught up to her, and she snapped to the sound of his voice. She turned a shoulder to him and began to take her leave without a word.

"Did you...read something from afar? judging by your reaction it seems pretty serious. Those things won't be back for at least another twelve hours, and i have nothing better to do except die, so i guess I'm going to help you for now."

Taking Notice of his eagerness, Galatea smiled back mischievously: "In your condition I hardly think you could help much, but if you think you can keep up with me then by all means. Perhaps you could kill a few of the injured yoma."

"In whatever way i can be of service."

"Just keep in mind that if you attempt eat anyone i will kill you." Galatea said.

"Of course." he smiled.

* * *

Lines of warriors stood at guard against the two mysterious intruders that appeared just outside the organizations's walls. Though they had the numbers, every one of the warriors knew that almost half of the single digits were missing. Alicia and Beth were gone, as well as numbers three and four. Due to this, and the nature of their opponents, their morale was almost none existent. Most of the warriors looked as if they barely managed to hold on to their blades from fear, let alone defend the organization from anything at all.

"Look sister, they're all just standing there so hopelessly. Against the two of us what do they hope to achieve? They should just give up there's no point in standing in our way." Luciela said, glaring zealously at the many warriors before them.

The two opposing forces stared each other down just outside the perimeter of the organizations headquarters, located in the far end of the eastern lands. The wind was unusually strong, blowing small mounds of dust from the dry lands around them, which only seemed to escalate the tension between the two sides. A few of the organizations men hid behind the wall of warriors, watching on just as nervously as the warriors before them.

"Our fight is not with the weaker ones, try not to kill them." Rafaela said, giving her sister a stare to imply her seriousness.

"Oh that's just no fun, but I suppose I'll make an effort just for you."

Luciela took a step forward, her long dress dancing in the wind as a pair of mutant tails slithered from underneath the fabric heading up towards her body. The strange appendages were very organic in nature, and covered in strange mouths with teeth that we're no doubt there to shred anything they touch.

Addressing the panic stricken warriors before her, Luciela remarked: "You're all lucky my sister is so much more sincere than I am. If it were up to me I would have done the same thing to this place as i did at that time."

The warriors took a few nervous steps backwards. Most of them hadn't even seen an awakened one before, let alone one of the abyssal ones.

"Just be aware that if you attack me," Luciela added with a wicked malevolence: "These mouths are actually quite slow eaters and your deaths would be pretty horrible. It's quite unavoidable really as even i can't control what they do the moment they latch on to someone."

She smiled at the trepidation she caused among them, and took another step only to see them take a step backward again in response which only pleased her further.

"What are you all doing? Attack them now!" one of the organizations men yelled.

A momentary rustle came from the group, but one by one they raised their blades with a newfound courage, or rather, following their indoctrinated orders. Before long they charged towards them, their blades ready to cut the two intruders down.

"So you would die serving them... Whatever, works by me..."

Before Luciela could strike against them, Rafaela intercepted the first of them, feigned the opening strike and kicking the helpless warrior in the gut, sending her flying backwards and smashing into others behind her. The others responded immediately by stopping in their tracks from horror when they saw one of the single digits kicked around like a toy.

Not one of them actually seemed willing to be the first to lead the next charge. Bands of sweat came from their faces, but due to the strong teaching they received from the organization, surrender was not an option.

"My name is Rafaela, former number two warrior of the old generations. I possess a power that is equal to my sister, Luciela the abyssal one of the south who stands behind me. So if we wish to settle this with the least amount of bloodshed then I challenge the strongest among you to a battle to the death and we can leave it at that."

Gasps came from the warriors among them. They all looked at each other, as if unsure of whether to listen to comply or not.

"The strongest amongst weaklings is still a weakling..." Luciela sighed.

Rafaela waited patiently for one of the warriors to step forward and do battle with her, but yet again not one of them seemed willing to so do. A couple of the weaker ones began to back away from sheer trepidation, leaving the numbers twenty and upwards behind. Rafaela could already tell which ones were the single digits, and it was directly them that she was looking at.

Before any answer was heard among them however, the appearance of a strange warrior suddenly caught their attention. Her hair was short and pale, looking almost as of it slivered down the side of her face, and her ears elongated in shape. She seemed confused, and clearly was not known among the group of known warriors who responded to her presence strangely. She appeared to have merely stumbled upon the situation by chance, looking completely lost in every sense of the word.

-"Who's that?" one of the warriors whispered.

-"I've never seen her before..." another said.

-"She's not one of us..."

Cassandra stood at awe at all those that stared strangely at her. She had no idea what she was doing here, or even who she really was.

"Cassandra, former number one warrior... So I see Dae finally finished his work..." One of the organizations men said from behind the warriors.

"About time its finished." another hissed.

Upon hearing this, whispers could be heard among the warriors, a glimmer of hope now could be felt among them. Each one of them looked at Cassandra with eyes of adoration.

-"Help us please number one!" One of the warriors begged.

"-We may be generations apart, but we're still comrades!"

-"we'll back you up!"

Cassandra seemed surprised to hear such a thing, but quickly her surprise turned into nervousness as her cheeks flushed bright red from all the praise she received from the many warriors.

-"Over there! They are the intruders!" another pointed.

"Huh?" Cassandra replied weakly.

Cassandra looked upon the two intruders that stood so confidently before might of the organization. She could immediately tell that one of them was a very powerful awakened being, but the other was a strange warrior that emitted no yoki aura.

"So then you are the challenger." Rafaela said, raising a brow and readying her sword, walking before an uncomfortable looking Cassandra.

"I suppose...but who are you?" Cassandra said.

"If you defeat me then ask me that question again. If you lose then you will never know. Simple as that."

"Wait... She said, glaring nervously at Rafaela, then back at her own comrades. At the sight of the many faces staring at her with eyes of adoration and hope, her cheeks flushed red from embarrassment. She wasn't sure which was more terrifying. Fighting such powerful intruders or being watched by her comrades while she did it.

"This is so boring sister...here let me spice things up a little..." Luciela said wickedly, Raising one of her ungodly tails.

The appendage extended outwards further as if crawling from underneath her dress, then, in the blink of an eye, she shot the appendage towards the nearest warrior. Her smile left her and gasps heard from the warriors when Cassandra moved in a strange, yet quick manner to intercept the attack, as if slithering across the ground in an ungodly manner.

Attacking from Low towards the ground, the warrior then spun herself upwards in a blur, slicing the tail apart in three individual pieces before it met with its target. The fleshy organic appendages flew off to the sides, rolling across the surface of the blood red sand.

Strange looks came from the faces of all around her, and at the sight of this, Cassandra's nervousness heightened as she lowered her head in shame, expecting nothing but mocking and disgust from those around her. Much to her surprise however, those strange looks morphed not into disgust, but nto excitement and praise instead. Her eyes widened when she saw faces of acceptance on them, something she was not expecting.

-"What was that? That was amazing!" One whispered.

-"She's so powerful!" another said.

-"Maybe we do have hope!"

Cassandra glared oddly at the warriors that now cheered her closely, a blush coming across her face again the moment they each smiled her way.

"Just what was that I wonder..." Luciela said, glaring at this strange new warrior, returning her wounded tail that had already began to regenerate.

"Leave her to me sister. Be sure to watch your back. I sense two other powerful ones around here as well." Rafaela said.

Luciela stared at her sister with a sharp look, then smiled: "There you are always worrying about me. It was always like that when we were together in the organization huh? I'm your big sister so it should be the other way around."

Rafaela turned to face her, and for a moment, the bright rays of the sunlight made it seem as if Luciela's hair turned back to a faded blonde. It was something Rafaela smiled at.

"You've always been a little off with your defense. I hope that's changed from the past Luciela."

Her sister grinned: "Same could be said about your offense. If i remember correctly I always seemed to be a little better in my swordplay. Isn't that right Rafaela?"

Rafaela sighed, then turned her sight towards Cassandra who stood ready with her blade held firmly in both hands. Tightening the grip of her own weapon, the former number two walked up to Cassandra with her blade raised.

"Do not hold back. I will try to kill you so please attempt to do the same to me."

Cassandra nodded ever so slightly. She still didn't know exactly what was going on or why she suddenly was forced into a fight to the death, but she was ready nonetheless.

Rafaela sprinted towards her, the opening strike a sideway slice aimed to decapitate the warrior in two.

_Again with these strange movements..._

Throwing her body backwards to avoid the attack, and using her head as a pendulum, Cassandra swung her body near the ground and shot herself upwards almost in an instant while spinning around rapidly, her blade aimed outwards. Rafaela only just managed to intercept the blade before it could removed her leg entirely. The angle of the attack was extremely inconvenient, and made the parry difficult, but not impossible achieve.

Rafaela paced herself backwards to study her opponent better. Cassandra responded by doing doing the same. The two stared at the other momentarily.

"Strange technique. It will make fighting you most difficult." she said, watching as the blood ran down the side of her leg from the deep cut across the side.

Cassandra spared no time to go on the offensives again, swinging her body towards the ground and slithering towards her target. This time, Rafaela had a better idea about her opponents attacks, and made sure to defend herself only from those low, usually undefendable angles. She made sure to keep her posture low, and blade aimed towards the ground as the dust eater technique was especially effective at exploiting weaknesses in a warriors' defense.

She parried both of the spinning strikes that aimed for her wrists, retaliating with a strike that only struck the ground instead as her target outmaneuvered her yet again by slithering away from her blade.

Strike after strike missed the incredibly agile warrior, who only seemed to be getting faster and faster and the duel continued on. Each of her attacks were getting increasingly deadlier as well, coming from lower and lower angles. Each time Rafaela aimed for her body, it simply slithered out of the way rapidly, slicing at her limbs in quick succession afterwards.

Making her first mistake, Rafaela miscalculated her movements which allowed Cassandra to remove her sword arm, the warrior's face turning a shade paler as she watched her limb cut in three pieces before her. With her off hand, however, she caught the flying blade convincingly and managed to continue the battle.

"Rafaela! What are you doing! Let me help you!" Luciela cried.

Before she could do anything, Luciela's eyes widened when a sudden blur raced past her, only to slash her across the chest at an incredible speed. She attended to the wound annoyingly, and turned to face this other stranger that dared to strike at her.

Her attacker stood confidently before her, blade raised as she stood with a distinct elegant stance to her. She had long, straight pale hair pulled into a ponytail with two distinct braids on either side of her face. Her back arched up unnecessarily high, a posture perfect stance that oozed of an almost exaggerated pride.

"What do we have here? such a powerful awakened being..." Hysteria said, glaring at her opponent coldly with her blade raised in front of herself with a single arm.

Luciela glanced over at her shoulder, relieved to see her sister alive and well even though she missed her dominant arm. If she wanted to help Rafaela she would have to kill this new warrior first.

"I'm going to enjoy tearing you apart," Luciela said, reaching for one of her giant tails that floated around herself and stroking it gently with her hands: "These little mouths don't usually feed on your type, but I'll make an exception just for you."

Hysteria watched warily as Luciela's body began to awaken, the flesh twisting and bending as the very bones reformed from under her skin. Her body elongated, posture changing to that of a large feline-like creature. When the transformation was complete, Luciela transformed into a large humanoid with long, hindlegs and a catlike head with two separate jaws. Sharp boney plates covered her back and parts of her thighs and outer arms. Her two large tails danced around her as usual, with those strange mouths now salivating across both the appendages.

Hysteria stiffened her posture, her fearless face showing the first signs of doubt as the abyssal one extended both her devilish tails at her, one after the other racing towards her.

She avoided both the appendages rather simply, watching as they smashed into the side of a nearby building with intense force, shattering it entirely.

"So you are naturally quick with your feet...As i suspected."

Luciela thundered towards Hysteria with all fours, her devilishly large claws ripping apart the soil beneath her. Though she was large, she was also very agile in this form, appearing before Hysteria rather quickly and send a bunch of furious swipes against her.

Much to her surprise, however, the claws merely sunk into an afterimage as her target suddenly blurred past her again, blade scraping her across the side of her face. Hysteria moved so quickly and so precisely, it was as if she moved as quickly and as silently as an arrow from a bow.

Luciela spun around to glare at her annoying opponent yet again: "Though you are pretty fast and accurate your strikes are pretty pathetic. Even if you release your yoki to the very limit there is no way you can gain enough strength to wound me. It seems you try to compensate for your lack in strength with such a technique, but too bad that it isn't very effective against me."

"Do not speak to me. Your very presence makes me sick." Hysteria said.

Luciela's face stiffened: "Such a foul mouth you have there. Just for that i'm not going to go easy on you anymore. I hope you enjoy being feasted upon by dozens of my slow eating mouths, and perhaps i'll even keep you alive to play with you later."

Hysteria tightened the grip on her blade, her arrogant smile instantly leaving her as the full weight of the situation bore on her. Though she didn't want to admit it, the awakened one was right. Her strength was always remarkably average among warriors, a weakness she had always covered for with her elegant movements. The upcoming battle will no doubt test her abilities to their limits.

* * *

Arriving at the walls of Rabona, Galatea was alarmed to sense an entire horde of yoma and awakened beings approaching the great city from the north eastern side. The yoma could be handled by the soldiers and Clarice, but the awakened beings were all up to her to handle. Most of them were of average strength, with only a couple considerably strong ones.

With haste Galatea made her way past the cities outer walls, effortlessly reaching the top of the structure and entering the interior of the soon to be overrun city. Though blind, her movements throughout the various platforms and rooftops of the city were completely unmatched, due to the fact that she memorized almost every single inch of the city throughout the years she spent here.

During the day she was a humble peacemaker, but during the night times, when all the others had long since fallen asleep, she would practice her acrobatics and movement skills in the streets and rooftops under the darkness of the night.

With her attention focused to the front, the back of her mind kept a close 'eye' on the abyssal one Isley that followed her closely behind. Though he was dangerous, she knew that he was in no shape to be a threat to her, but his skills with a blade, should he find one, could even save a few lives.

"Galatea! where the heck were you? Sid and Galk are already making preparations up ahead." Clarice yelled at the sight of the newcomers.

"I should have known the organization would have done such a thing... i never should have left..." Galatea said, while assessing the situation around her.

"And who is that?" Clarice added, taking notice of the arrival of a strange man with silvery hair wearing a thick wooly cloak.

"My name is Isley. " he said, waving.

Clarice stared at the man for a moment in confusion, but it wasn't long until her face lit up with horror. She was never particularly gifted with anything, but it was impossible to not sense the colossal power of the being before her.

"Wait...this is..."

"Mama who is that?" Miata said, tugging on her sleeve.

"Don't worry, in his current state he probably is no match even for you. Give him a weapon and he may prove useful. I will draw the awakened one's attention away from you and the guards."

Clarice lightly nodded, though still looking quite insecure about Isley: "Alright..lets go Miata."

Much to her surprise, however, the little girl then tugged against Galatea. Her little face lit up with concern.

"Not yourself. Not by yourself. Too strong." Miata said.

"Miata..." Clarice cried, unsure of what to think of this.

"Don't worry color head, I'll make sure to protect her even if it costs me my life." Galatea said, then quickly setting her attention upon the abyssal one.

"Remember Silvery king, you are in my castle now. And in this place my eyes are everywhere, so if you do anything funny i'll just treat you like another enemy." Galatea said.

"I am merely a humble guest. I wouldn't try anything like that around you." Isley said, giving an honorable bow with a single hand.

Galatea cleared her mind for the final time, listening only to the soothing sound the wind and trying her best to filter out the sound of the approaching horde in the distance. With all calm, she took a leap of faith into the darkness, her feet touching upon countless invisible blocks she once remembered as buildings.

The only thing she could see through the darkness, however, were the glowing auras of those with a yoki energy. Through the infinity around her, the auras manifested themselves as fuzzy strings of energy, small orbs of illuminating lights concentrated together to form the appearance of the body that radiated it.

_Among the invaders, there are twenty six awakened beings, most of them average in strength._

_there are about twice as many yoma, but that shouldn't be a problem for Clarice and the others._

Before them, the invading awakened ones demolished the outer walls of the city, and below the monster's feet, hordes of yoma scurried inwards past the newly created rubble. Miata and Galatea touched down next to each other, patiently awaiting for the monsters to take notice of them as they stood atop a nearby building on lookout.

"Remember Miata, only attack the awakened beings. You know...the big strong ones." Galatea said, revealing her blade from under her long cloak.

"Isley..." Miata said.

"Eh?"

"Scary man."

Galatea paused for a moment as she processed the little child's words, but her attention was quickly grabbed the moment she detected an incoming projectile racing for them. The two of them leapt sideways, evading the fleshy spike as it smashed into the centre of the building they stood on. A dozen more raced for them, and building after building suffered as a consequence as the agile targets moved out of the way. Chunks of brick and wood splinters flicked into the surrounding vicinity, encasing the two warriors as they maneuvered their way towards the incoming horde.

One of the awakened beings, a lizard-like being with an elongated neck and a hunched posture appeared before them, smashing its tail downwards but only hitting the structure where its target were a moment earlier. The claymores leapt off the surface, racing for the monster before them, with Galatea removing the creatures' right arm with a clean slice and Miata landing a convincing blow against its side.

"Not bad. But you should have aimed for the other arm, or better yet, the head." Galatea said through the groans of the creature as it turned around to face its attackers.

Miata spared the older warrior a quick glace. Her long hair covering most of her fascinating stare that seemed to confirm that she understood what the older warrior was saying, or merely tried to.

Using the side of a building as a foothold, Galatea shot herself back towards the creature, aligning her yoki with its own and influencing the movement of its remaining arm as it sped towards her. Just as she willed, the massive limb passed safely above her, leaving an opening in its defense. The confusion on its ugly face didn't last long as Galatea's blade jolted towards it's neck, severing the life of the creature in an instant.

As its head flew through the air, Galatea was pleased when she quickly took notice of Miata finishing yet another one in a similar manner. The child slashing the head in three clean pieces with frighteningly powerful movements.

_That was one of the stronger ones..._

As the corpse fell down to the streets below, the two Claymores backed up against each other from atop a bell-tower, eyeing the awakened horde that now surrounded them from below. Some resembled exotic creatures like an octopus while others that of strange insects. Being male, most of them were on the larger scale, focusing more on sheer strength rather than fast efficient movements.

"So many..." Miata said, the wind messing with both their similar length hair.

"Don't worry, most of them are much weaker than the one you killed. Stay close to m..." Galatea said, frowning from frustration as the small warrior leapt off the edge, charging for the nearest enemy.

_I guess it can't be helped. I'll just have to stick close to her..._

* * *

Thoughts? opinions? please let me know i'd love to hear from you in the reviews.

peace out.


	46. Chapter 46

Isley followed the rest of the Rabonian soldiers as they marched in unison through the cities' deserted streets heading for the army of yoma dead ahead. Equipped with heavy chain mail armor and long pikes, these human warriors were no doubt a match for ordinary yoma, specially due to their superior numbers. He found it rather humorous, however, that these men merely dismissed him as a washed up homeless-man wearing an old torn cloak, rather than a monster.

Earlier, Galk had offered him a short sword and a shield earlier, but he had insisted upon a two handed weapon instead, telling him his training had been with sword, more specifically, ones that were considered great-swords. The larger man raised a brow at the request, but had had obliged nevertheless.

Isley inspected the blade he was given closely as he marched with the soldiers through the streets. Though no where near as precise and balanced as the organization's claymore swords, it it was still enough to get the job done. Yoma weren't that tough after all.

"Prepare yourselves! here they come men!" Galk roared.

Isley watched on interestingly as the men formed a defensive maneuver, overlapping their shields to create a wall made of steel against the incoming enemy. Among all this, he noticed Clarice approach him from the side, her weapon steadily in her hands.

"So, can you still...fight?"

"Of course,"

"Alright then, but I'm staying close to you. I won't hesitate to kill you if you try something though so don't forget that!." she said nervously.

"You don't have to worry about that. It's the yoma that you should be worried about." Isley said calmly.

They raised their blades the moment the small army of yoma finally clashed with them. To the surprise of the many soldiers, the yoma were not as stupid as they appeared. The monsters broke their regiments by making unique use of their environment, whether leaping over many men at once, or merely climbing along the walls to flank them from the sides. One after another the men bit the dust, but among them the yoma seemed to suffer just as many casualties if not more.

Isley ran his blade across the ground gracefully as he prepared himself for an incoming yoma that decided to target him. The moment it leapt for him, he thrust the blade upwards like a spring, severing the creature into two clean pieces.

He looked over to his side and saw that Clarice, while stronger than him at the moment, lacked far behind when it came to skill and experience. She managed to slay yoma with relative ease, but seemed to struggle with defending herself from them, often moving around in desperate manners to avoid receiving a fatal blow.

Having no real interest in this battle, Isley took notice of a side alleyway and began to head towards it. Though he walked casually through a small scale battlefield to get there, none of the humans seemed to even notice him. All of them, it seemed, were simply too lost in the surrounding battle to take notice.

He froze for a moment when he heard Clarice approach him from behind.

"Hey where are do you think your going?"

"So are you going to kill me or help the soldiers? Think quickly." he said, leaving a dumbfounded Clarice behind as he continued heading down the alleyway.

"Oh and watch out for that yoma." he added.

"What yoma-?" Clarice belched, suddenly taking notice of the threat he referred to.

As Clarice was lost in the battle yet again, Isley proceeded to head off, the cries of both humans and yoma growing ever fainter as reached the end of the alley. Stopping at a crossroad, Isley looked over at his sides, and noticed something very interesting.

Though there was an invasion of the city, before him a group of men looted various buildings, smashing windows and kicking down the doors to steal whatever they could grab their hands on.

_Volunteer fighters?_

_Oh i see, they use the weapons and equipment given to them to loot the city instead of defending it._

_That's...pretty low._

He watched as the dozen or so men helped themselves to whatever they could fit in their large bags as they worked to empty the unfortunate stores around them. They all wore simple leather armor and equipped with what seemed to be soldier-like weapons no doubt supplied to them a moment earlier.

"Are you not going to assist your soldiers?" Isley said, drawing their attention through all the chaos.

"Mind your own business." one of them barked back.

Unsatisfied with their answer, he began to head towards them, slowly gaining their attention with each successive step he took closer.

"You better get lost man, or i'll end you!" another warned.

Leaping forwards, Isley rapidly sliced across the side of the man in a clean arc, severing his life and causing the resulting corpse to fall limp to the ground.

Immediately the others drew their weapons and surrounded him, their eyes averted to the pool of blood that now ran around Isley's boots.

"I really am pretty hungry. I haven't eaten in quite a while. When was your last meal? i bet it was pretty recent." Isley said calmly as he flickered his attention from the many around him.

"I don't know what you're talking about but you're dead bastard!" A man behind Isley stormed as he charged with his weapon drawn.

Isley sidestepped the incoming man, his body slipping away from the man's blade. Isley countered by slicing across the man's chest the moment he lost his balance from his own strike.

As the man collapsed from the fatal wound to his abdomen, Isley flicked the blood off the blade as he addressed them again:

"Only two so far? come on i'm sure at least one of you can wound me?"

Before long two others charged at him, then three, and before long, most of the others as well. Though outnumbered, Isley danced through the strikes, cleverly avoiding and parrying the many sharpened blades that threatened to wound him. Through efficient sweeps of the blade, and superb use of his centre of balance, the broadsword he was given easily connected with flesh, while their attacks simply failed. The difference in sheer skill was simply too great.

With a clean sweep of his blade, Isley sliced the head off yet another warrior, pronging the dwindling warriors to back away in response. He could see that most of them now feared him greatly, their weapons shaking in their hands.

"Usually i don't like to overeat but..." isley said, taking a step forward, causing the half a dozen thugs move back in response. Eventually they backed off into a corner, and their faces turned into horror the moment they witnessed Isley's eyes turn bright yellow for a brief moment.

-"He's a yoma!"

-"He'll kill us!"

"What the hell are you!" One of them yelled at the tip of his lungs, lunching forward only to be stabbed through the head by Isley's sword.

Removing the blade from the dead man's skull by stomping him down with his boot, Isley ran his fingers through the blood on the sword and placed it in his mouth shortly afterwards.

"My name is Isley of Alphonse, and I will now devour each and every one of your flesh. So you can either stay alive or kill yourselves now, it doesn't matter to me."

They almost fell over from the sheer horror of that they heard. He shifted his attention to them suddenly, his icy glare almost piercing through their souls. They each stared at their weapons horrifically, as they struggled to comprehend the impossible choice they had to make.

* * *

_Isley...he just left Clarice..._

_What is he planning?..._

With an incoming claw on intercept with her, Galatea was forced to put aside her thoughts as she raced to avoid it as the appendage cleanly ripped through the tiles below her feet.

Soaring through the air, she gracefully touched down against an undamaged building with Miata doing battle of her own a short distance away. So far, the two of them had already destroyed about half of the awakened, but the remaining half proved to consist of the stronger ones and this was particularly annoying for Galatea. There were more than a few close calls for so far, and knew that if things continued the way they did, she just may lose her life.

Suddenly her attention shifted off to the distance when she sensed something strange yet again.

_Now he's doing battle with...humans?_

_One by one he's slaughtering humans?_

_Honestly I should have seen this coming._

Anticipating an attack from below, Galatea threw herself out of the way from an array of tentacles that came from beneath the building she stood upon. She growled in pain when one of the appendages, equipped with razor sharp edges, managed to scape by her side, maiming her temporarily.

_Perhaps it was because of Teresa that both Riful and Priscilla behaved. _

_It was foolish for me to allow another abyssal one within these cities walls._

_What was i thinking?_

Barely having any time to recover, she was forced to duck to avoid a side swipe of another, countering with a slice across the pair of monstrous legs. The awakened screeched as it collapsed to the streets below, a fountain of blood spraying from its wounds.

* * *

Rubel stood in awe at the battles before him as he stood watching from the far sidelines along with Orsay. The two of them had arrived from the mainland only recently, But neither of them expected something like this to happen. They had been told that an awakened being was attacking the premises, and there was an evacuation of staff with a state of emergency being declared. Neither of them even thought for a moment that this awakened being would be so incredibly powerful.

"If my memory serves me correct, i do believe that is Luciela..." Rubel said, keeping his hands tucked in his side pockets as the two stood against a steep, sandy slope.

"Impossible. She should be dead." Orsay said.

"Yes, but she's not the only one who fits that description." Rubel grinned.

"So then the ones that are fighting the intruders must be those three. I see Dae finally completed his experiments. I'm not sure whether i should take comfort in this or not."

Rubel's attention drifted to the sound of sudden footsteps towards his far side, and watched on as two Claymores came out of a circular doorway from a nearby grounded building. He grumbled when he identified one of them as Audrey, but quickly left wide eyed when he identified the other as Raftella.

Audrey froze the moment she set her eyes upon him, but it wasn't long until a proud smirk came across her lips, though her attention often diverting to the direction to the monstrous Luciela as she demolished an entire building in a single attack.

"I can see that once again you managed to get out of a situation you should not have." Rubel said.

"I suppose I'm just lucky, but I wonder just how much you've had a play in all this?" Audrey said.

"No, this is actually a surprise even for me. I had no hand in these two intruders i can assure you that. Though what I would like to know is how you know so much?"

Audrey smirked: "Ever since Jeves had been transferred here he's involved me in a lot of his gruesome and cruel experiments. He may have been a genius, but that man could not keep a secret if it would save his life. The fool would often leave documents entitled 'above top secret' just lying around in his laboratory, so i couldn't help but peak. That's how I found out about the mainland and the other islands." Audrey said.

"It looks as if we both agree on the same subject. Jeves was an idiot," Rubel said, face lowered:"But he did specialize in a field that I was very interested in, so you can see why I used him."

Irritated, Audrey said: "I'm not a fool Rubel. I know you pull all the strings here, and I know there must be something behind all this. The incident in Rabona with the yoki feeders was not the organization's doing, and I have the strangest feeling it must have been yours."

With a grin Rubel replied: "So she awakened huh? i thought sending that many would be enough."

"What are you talking about?" She said with an arched brow.

"Teresa awakened and Clare managed to bring her back to normal though soul link. Or so it appears from the sources that tell me these things."

"So then it was you whose responsible! You almost had us all killed!"

"But everything turned out well in the end right?." Rubel said in a mischievous manner: "Those feeders did their job and triggered Teresa's awakening, forcing Clare to learn the trick to soul link on the spot. The fact that she actually did it is really quite remarkable really...but i had faith in her."

Taking a short moment to contemplate his words, Audrey placed a second hand on her weapon and took a closer step towards him: "What was the real reason you brought Teresa back?"

"I suppose i should probably start from the beginning. The organization has been experimenting with 'soul linking' for quite some time now. The ultimate goal was to create a controllable awakened being by using two sisters or twins to control each others' awakening. The first to try were Rafaela and Luciela, which ended terribly for the organization, then saw some modest success with Alicia and Beth, but nothing that would drastically change the tides of any war that was for sure."

"And what makes you think...you can control Teresa and Clare?"

Rubel's attention shifted to the number ten that stood at awe at the many battles before her. Audrey noticed this, and the revelation immediately dawned on her.

"You were planning to use Raftella to control their minds... and then you plan to destroy the organization's headquarters on the mainland..."

Rubel grinned at this. "Actually that's the last thing I want. If any facility is destroyed they would just make another one just like it in no time, and all my actions up until now would have gone to waste."

"Rubel just what is the meaning of this?" Orsay said, dumfounded.

Audrey added: "You must be here to infiltrate enemies' headquarters, working your way up to the top so you can destroy them from the inside... If you becomes the boss...the organization has already lost. And you plan to use the rebels to achieve this somehow..."

Rubel now looked as if the conversation had suddenly just gotten interesting to him. That smirk on his face had widened, as he glared at her cunningly.

"Or perhaps I don't want the organization destroyed. Then who will oppose the dragon-kin?"

"I thought you were on the dragon-kin side..."

"Am I?" He said deviously.

Tightening the grip of her blade, Audrey looked as if she were ready to cut him down. A devious smile came across her features as she eyed him zealously, as though extremely satisfied with her position of power.

"So you're really going to cut me down? have you ever killed a human before?" Rubel said, his voice reeking in a strange confidence.

"While it's true that, I haven't killed a human before, I'm not entirely sure if you even quality as a human. Regardless, considering all that you've done, I think i'm actually going to enjoy killing you."

"Oh is that so?" Rubel said.

As Orsay backed away from fear, Something had caught the attention of Raftella as she spoke:

"The one with a scar across her eye just lost her limb against the other one...I'm not sure if she is enemy or foe, but I feel compelled to help her."

Hearing this, Audrey shot her gaze towards the two distant warriors who fought off in the distance, close to the her former comrades. She didn't recognize either if them, and had no idea which was enemy and which was foe. The One Raftela referred to had a missing eye, and fought gallantly even without her dominant arm. The one, however, fought in a very strange manner, almost as if she rolled around in the dirt, something she found very odd and in a way, gross.

Audrey's stomach twisted when she noticed Roxanne emerged out from one of the dome structured buildings, sliding down a dried up sand slope heading for the other warriors below. That warrior seriously gave her the creeps.

* * *

After a while of running around through the many hallways and steps of the organization, she had finally reached sunlight. Roxanne kicked open the pathetic wooden door and before her, was the so called organizations demise. One of the intruders, an awakened one, had already transformed into their true form and was currently doing battle with another one of the resurrected ones. Not far by, the other intruder fought a desperate battle against someone very familiar to Roxanne. While all this was going on, the other warriors remained huddled together a short distance away watching the battles before them.

Roxanne chuckled to herself as she made her way down the slopes heading towards the group of warriors. Her eyes, focused on Cassandra's battle especially.

The moment she arrived, the many faces of the group of warriors immediately turned to face her with curious looks on their faces.

"Comrade, are you another resurrected number one?" One with hair styled with long elegant curls said.

"Surely you guys can defeat an abyssal one if you work together?" another said.

Roxanne sighed, throwing her blade over her shoulder: " You're all so pathetic to just stand here and watch your own battles being fought for you...I mean really are your lives even worth saving?"

None of the others knew what to say. They merely exchanged odd looks at each other, embarrassed by the harsh words of such a powerful warrior.

Placing both her hands on her hips, Roxanne set her sight upon Cassandra and her battle with the intruder. A smile quickly came across her lips, but shortly later, that smile turned into hysterical laughter.

"Look at that? Its so disgusting don't you agree? I mean seriously who the hell fights like that? Already her face is getting dirty!"

As Roxanne was going off her head, the many warriors around her were suddenly very creeped out by this former number one. None of them laughed with her, while some even took a step backwards in response to her strange behavior.

"How pathetic. That's why she's called the dust eater. A name I gave her myself. Don't you think its appropriate?"

"She protected us, so we are grateful." The one with the gracefully long curls said.

Roxanne stopped her laughter and turned to face the nervous warrior. This warrior interested her for some reason, and was curious to know more about her.

"What's your name?"

"My name is Anastasia. Number 7."

"Somebody like you...surely you must have a title?"

"They call me 'the winged'"

"Anastasia the winged, that's an interesting title. In that case, you're coming with me."

She crossed her arms as she glared at the rest of the warriors with her maddened eyes.

"So then is there anyone else at least a little bit strong?"

A short scuffle came across the group of warriors around the former number one. Before long, a couple brave ones stood forward in response to her.

"Dietrich number 8."

"Rachael number 5."

"Nina number 9."

"So then, shall we go on an awakened being hunt?" Roxanne smirked, looking off to the direction of Luciela.

The warriors nodded, and proceeded to follow her towards the Abyssal one.

* * *

Severing both the arms of a humanoid awakened before her, Galatea's heart skipped a beat when she anticipated two incredibly powerful projectiles suddenly racing towards her direction. At first she prepared to evade them, but quickly noticed they were not targeted towards her.

Intrigued, she planted her feet firmly on the crumbled rooftop, and a moment later, could almost feel the wind as the two projectiles raced safely past her, impacting on two incoming awakened instead. One piercing through a neck and the other severing two joints in one go Judging from the particular sound they made and their movements, there was no doubt in Galatea's mind that they were some sort of arrows. She knew where they came from, or to say more accurately, who they came from.

She leapt towards the nearest foe, but was forced to choose another as Isley's arrows destroyed it first. Not thinking too much on it, she raced for another but was surprised to notice arrows pierce its flesh too. It seemed that no matter what enemy she targeted, this annoying pattern continued to follow on.

_It seems he is enjoying this... but..._

The moment the next set of arrows penetrated the awakened before her, Galatea ripped them out of its dying bod with either hand, and releasing half her yoki, threw them with all her might back to their master with lethal force.

* * *

_What on earth?_

_Is she pulling them them out of the awakens' body?_

_and...throwing them..._

_here?_

Isley lit up in alarm when the appendages thundered back towards him. One of them scraping him across the side while he managed to dodge the other one easily. Reverting his bow made from his own flesh, he fell to a single knee as he placed a hand on his wound, which he didn't feel like regenerating to conserve his yoki levels.

He stared at this strange woman off in the distance in awe, not entirely sure whether he was furious or deeply intrigued by her. Though he was about a block away, standing on the tallest building he could find, it seemed she possessed surprisingly strong upper body strength, something he did not expect.

"I suppose I went a little too far. I probably deserved that one..."

Isley quickly got to his feet as he anticipated an attack from his left side. Throwing himself out of he way, Clarice's blade smashed into the rooftop, shattering tiles and flicking bits of wood in its wake.

"You tried to kill Galatea!" She cried.

"Annoying girl..." He grunted, ducking her next attack, and disarming her after through clever movements.

"So now what will you do?" He said, holding her blade.

A sudden strange movement called his attention, and Isley grunted as he was forced to parry a powerful strike from the young warrior that seemed to appear from nowhere. Though Miata was small, he found himself terribly surprised at the nature of her incredible strength.

"Don't you hurt mama!" the child yelled.

Isley sent a flurry of unforgiving swings her way, but was left wide eyed as Miata found a counter for each and every one with relative ease.

"So then you are very special aren't you?" he said.

After parrying the next set of her powerful strikes, Isley then threw himself towards the next building, temporarily ending the battle.

"Really, you people are so delusional." he sighed, as he touched down across the buildings edge, his blade still raised and prepared for battle.

Clarice looked over to to Galatea's direction a little distance away, and was relieved to see her destroy what seemed like the last of the awakened beings. She could see that Isley had noticed as well and she turned to face him.

"You killed them didn't you! You killed all those humans!" Clarice yelled.

He slowly turned to face her, a blank expression on his face.

"If you mean the ones who were looting the city then yes I am as guilty as you say." he said.

"I don't believe you! Give me back my sword!" she shrieked.

"You know, you really are testing my patience now. I'm still leaning towards not killing you guys but the other option is starting to look better and better. Still, I wonder what you would taste like? the color of your hair implies you are some sort of failed experiment."

Clarice's face suddenly lit up with horror when she heard him say that. This wasn't the first time she heard that from an awakened being, and a such a death absolutely terrified her.

"Oh relax i'm just joking. I'm not actually going to eat you. It's not really my style to eat warriors anyway."

What he thought the others would interpret as humor clearly backfired on him as Miaita thundered for him yet again, blade raised. As they engaged in battle yet again, Isley tested the young warrior further, constantly switching his fighting style in an attempt to overwhelm her. Surely enough, his superior experience began to show, as the battle quickly fell over in his favor.

"You fight very well little one, but your movements are still based too much on instinct. Against someone like me you cannot win like that."

Annoyed, the little girl attempted a kick to the side of his face, but the abyssal anticipated this and caught her kick with an arm, then quickly shifted his posture to catch the other foot that shot for him afterwards.

"You really are quite tough aren't you?" he said.

With this opponent losing her foothold, Isley swung her unbalanced body around and tossed her off to the side. As Miata soared to the nearest building, Isley smiled when he saw Galatea swoop in and catch Miata in mid air the moment before the young warrior collided with the side of a nearby building. He watched as the two of them touched down safely on the opposite rooftop.

"Nice catch." he smirked.

"Nice shooting." Galatea replied.

"Nice throwing skills." He added.

"Poor evading skills."

Isley's face stiffened when he heard that, rubbing the side of his arm where his arrows had scraped across him a moment earlier. Though he found this woman more and more annoying, he also found that at the same time, he quite enjoyed this little game they played.

"Galatea was it?" he said, to which she nodded ever so slightly: "Tell me, what exactly do you plan to do now that the city's safe?"

"Is it really safe with you here?" she sneered.

"I don't plan on staying here for long," He said, the wind playing with his long cloak as he looked off to the side to gaze east far: "So you don't have to worry about that. But for some reason I get the feeling that you don't plan on staying either?"

"So then i guess I have a choice either to go with you or kill you here now. If i wait any longer I may not be able to defeat you."

"It's long past that point already..." Isley said with a sudden breeze swaying his long silvery hair.

"Oh is that so?" Galatea said with a brow raised.

"Pretty much, but i'd rather not waste any unnecessary energy fighting you. Besides, you showed me mercy earlier, so I will do the same. So I say farewell for now." he said as he turned his back to her and headed towards the eastern edge of the rooftop.

Galatea smiled at what this man said. According to her diagnosis, Isley's yoki levels were still rather low, and surely not enough to defeat the likes of her in a serious battle. She concluded that he was probably just trash talking, but despite this, his status as an abyssal still made her feel terribly uneasy.

"...So then, I suppose you're heading towards the organization." Galatea said, pronging the man to stop in his tracks.

"I may be."

"I suppose you should know that I sense a multitude of powerful yoki auras coming from the organization. I don't know what's going on, but no doubt there is something big happening there."

Isley turned around to face her properly.

"You could be useful...why don't you leave the humans to recover the city and come with me? you could be my allies."

"Allies?" Galatea said, her tone unconvinced.

"It's merely an offer. You can take it or leave it."

"And why should I trust you?"

Isley smiled as he glared at the blind warrior with intense interest.

"I suppose you really can't trust me, but you do possess quite a useful ability so I suppose you'll be of some use to me. I don't want you that bad anyway, so you can take my offer or leave it."


	47. Chapter 47

Here it is, chapter 47. This is quite a long chapter and i tried a few new things with the story which i hope people will appreciate. I try to not be predicatble and i hope that i have succeeded :)

as always i try to keep everyone in character, but like to add my own little twists as well.

If you enjoy reading this story then please leave a comment/review because i love to read people's feedback so i could potentially make this story even better.

enjoy.

* * *

Soaring through the air with upmost gracefulness, Hysteria's feet touched down gently upon the top fixtures of the centre building of the organization, her metallic boots barely making the faintest of sounds as though she weighed little more than a feather.

Standing taller than most, and gifted with long striking legs, Hysteria was always the envy of all the other warriors for most of her life. This was always her greatest of prides, but also her greatest of weaknesses. She constantly strived herself to utter most perfection, because in her mind, she was an artist. She had changed the barbarianism of combat and made it into something beautiful, something elegant.

As she stood atop the building, Hysteria turned to face her rather powerful opponent down below who stared back at her maliciously with a pair of deviant looking eyes.

_Oh that's right I just remembered my name..._

_Other than that, the only thing that's clear is that I have to kill this one person..._

_But I don't even know what she looks like._

_All I know is her name..._

"I wonder what you're thinking?" Luciela said from down below, bringing an end to the elegant warriors' thoughts.

When she didn't hear a response from her, the abyssal one leaped across the side of the next nearest building and set herself upon the roof a moment later, almost crushing the structure entirely. She glared at her opponent with her catlike eyes with a look of annoyance:

"I suppose you're thinking about the best way to escape now that you realize you can't win, or perhaps you're thinking of the best way to beg for your life? If you submit yourself now I just might be generous."

Hysteria smirked at this, the two glaring coldly at the other from opposite rooftops: "Somebody as disgusting as yourself, has no right to speak to somebody like me. I already told you."

"I wonder how disgusting you'll be when I tear off the skin from that pretty face of yours?"

Visibly annoyed at her opponent, Hysteria prepared herself for the next round of their clash. She raised her blade, preparing herself for her opening strike with the technique she called the most elegant of all.

To her, the elegance was utter perfection. A technique so beautiful, quick and precise, it would end battles even before they started. It was as though she would temporarily become one with the wind, her body slipping past the side of her opponent before they even knew what was coming.

Stepping forward, she performed the technique, and the gentle wind suddenly brushed past her cheeks as her body accelerated forward at an insane speed. Blurring past the awakened as though she was a speeding arrow, Hysteria struck her great-sword against Luciela's left eye in an instant as she zooms past.

She touched down silently on the opposite end of the building from where Luciela stood, her blade drenched in blue blood. She turned around to inspect the damage she had done and smirked delightfully when her attack seemed successful.

"So now you're aiming for my eyes... that's quite a desperate fighting strategy. Someone like you...I never would have thought you'd resort to such things." Luciela said, mending to the new wound in a casual manner, that arrogant presence still apparent from her.

Hysteria was puzzled. She was sure such a wound would cause the awakened one to lose that arrogant smirk she had loathed.

_Surely, losing an eye would be a severe disadvantage..._

_Her depth perception was eliminated in one go..._

_Though she can regenerate...it isn't instantaneous and will probably take a few minutes..._

_So why doesn't she look so concerned? Did I miss something?_

"You don't taste half bad actually. " Luciela said, glaring at her opponent's lower half like a shark to its prey.

To her horror, Hysteria averted her eyes over to her own body and scoffed when she discovered a disgusting bite mark across the side of her own left leg. A trail of blood running down the contours of her leg towards her previously unscathed boot that was now now dripped heavily in the red liquid.

Looking back at her opponent, she then noticed a single mouth on one of Luciela's tails munching on something fleshy, no doubt belonging to her. Small torn pieces of her grey suit stuck to some of its horrendously sharp teeth as it chewed on its meal.

_How disgusting..._

Hysteria hated receiving wounds of any sort, and hated the sight of her own blood. Her technique, after all, had prevented such things from happening to her for most of her life, that is, right until the very end.

"Looks like that body is slowly deteriorating into something ugly..." Luciela teased, the inner parts of her eye socket already beginning to regenerate itself: "that's too bad because I've always wanted a figure like yours, so I guess I'll just have to break it instead."

Hysteria's posture stiffened at the sound of this. A look of annoyance set across her soft features. She was never really fond of long barbaric battles where an element of luck was concerned, and always preferred battles to be short and one sided. But she didn't always get what she wanted it seemed.

Sometimes it felt as if she was the only one who tried to bring a little bit of class into all the ugliness of the world, and it was always such a difficult endurance to maintain. Especially because her ideology on beauty was so different to the harsh reality of the world, and as a result, was forced to go against the status quo more than once.

Before she had time to properly think things through, Hysteria was forced to once again evade a multitude of the abyssal one's powerful tails that ravaged the areas beneath her feet. Though she managed to avoid them rather simply using her technique, there were fewer and fewer places for her to land. Whichever structures and platforms remained were slowly being reduced one by one due to the sheer strength and power of the abyssal ones' appendages. Entire buildings crumbled as they missed their agile target, smashing the sides and throwing sand and debris in air in a multitude of small explosions.

Among all this, Luciela sparred a glance at Rafaela's battle in the distance and was pleased to see her managing quite well on her own. She had hoped to annihilate this opponent quickly, but in such a place it is very difficult to target an opponent that always seemed to slip out of her grasp at the very last moment.

When one of her tails smashed into the side of a giant dome-like building with iron bars as windows, Luciela immediately noticed something odd. Emerging out of the destruction, strange humanoid-like creatures with a light blue tint to them crawled out with all fours. Their mouths and eyes were sewn shut, as if they were some horrific experiments gone wrong, or so she thought. There were about half a dozen of them, and the destruction of the building had no doubt drawn their attention, and they were heading straight for her.

Luciela looked on disgustingly as one of the creatures leapt towards her tail and began to feast on it frenziedly. She wrapped her tail around the creature, and though it itself was being devoured by the many mouths of her own appendage, the creature did not stop until its head was consumed entirely.

"Just what the hell...are these things? They taste absolutely horrible..." she said, pulling back her wounded tail.

At that moment, Hysteria blurred past her and immediately and Luciela's vision fell to black.

_Just what the?_

_She ..._

_destroyed my other eye..._

_..._

_I'm blind?_

"THAT'S IT! NOW YOU DID IT! THIS IS THE END OF YOU! YOU BITCH BETTER RUN!" Luciela roared furiously, swinging her tails around like a maniac and demolishing anything they collided against.

With her opponent now blinded and attacking recklessly, Hysteria leapt backwards until she exited Luciela's' reach, stepping atop a half-crumbling structure a safe distance away and watching on as the rest of the abyssal feeders reacted to the crazed awakened. One by one they leapt for their blinded opponent, their mouths ready to feast on her flesh. One of Luciela's giant legs connected with one of the abyssal feeders smashing in into a pulp as it collided against the side of a demolished wall. Another had its entire body ripped into shreds from a swipe of her powerful claws. A few seconds later, however, both completely regenerated and continued their assault on her, joining the other nine or so others that swarmed her relentlessly.

Hysteria smiled as she watched the much larger Luciela struggle against the many smaller opponents who now threatened her.

_Let the monsters destroy each other..._

At that moment, Hysteria heard the distinct sound of metallic boots touching down on the rooftop behind her. She turned around to see a small squad of warriors approaching from atop the half demolished building she stood upon, the five of them walking around a rather large hole in the centre created by Luciela a moment earlier.

"I don't know who you are, but I don't require any assistance." Hysteria said, glaring irritably at their leader, the one with the hair tied into two pigtails and a single beauty mark under her eye.

"It's funny that you say that considering how those things seem to be helping you quite a lot.. " Roxanne said, stopping next to the taller warrior with a playful grin across her rather innocent looking face.

"We've come to help you comrade." Anastasia said.

Hysteria stared at the warriors blankly, then poked her nose up high a second later in a snobbish fashion as though not interested in the slightest.

"Stay out of my way." she said coldly, leaping off the edge of the building and heading back towards the fight in an instant.

"Hey wait!" Dietrich screeched.

The group watched on strangely as Hysteria left them, all except Roxanne who merely had a rather large smirk planted across her face with her arms crossed. The others quickly noticed this and waited for their leaders' response.

"Roxanne...the abyssal feeders seem to be doing a good job at weakening that awakened. Perhaps we should wait until they are completely destroyed before we engage it." Dietrich added.

Roxanne turned her attention upon the warrior, her face one of surprise.

"Now why would we do that? I say we go for a frontal charge just like that other resurrected one."

The group stared strangely at Roxanne. Something was telling them their safety was not high on her priority list. In fact, they weren't even sure whether she even had priorities at all. At this point, it seemed as if she acted merely in a manner that pleased her, not caring for the consequences afterwards.

* * *

_Among all the rebels from before...only that new warrior...Audrey is up ahead._

_Miria...and the others are no where near the organization..._

_Just what exactly is going on?_

Galatea's thoughts were disrupted when the man with the silvery hair walked up beside her, momentarily disrupting her trail of thought. His power had risen considerably given the rather short time that had passed from when they left Rabona, and knew that if he really wanted to, he could have probably killed her by now. However, he didn't strike her as a barbaric monster that killed merely for personal pleasure. Among awakened ones, he was the only one she encountered that seemed to have at least a little bit of class, and she was genuinely fascinated by this.

"I have to say, it feels pretty good to just watch those things attacking someone else for a while...and to think of all people it would be that woman..." Isley said as they atop a distant hillside overlooking the organization in the distance.

Next to him stood Galatea, along with Clarice and Miata nearby as well. The cold breeze of the arid lands blew harshly past them, playing gently with each one of their elongated cloaks as they danced in the breeze. Isley still found himself stricken by the long Elegant hair of the blind warrior that blew so gently against the gentle breeze, a sight he found quite captivating for some odd reason. Though Galatea was blind, he knew that she could see the battles perfectly well. Even better than himself in fact. She had been pretty useful to him up until this point and had kept him pretty well informed about what was expected up ahead.

Before them, half of the infrastructure of the organisation had already been demolished at this point, with Luciela frenziedly attacking a group of abyssal feeders in the centre of the establishment. Most of the current generation warriors merely stood in a large group near the entrance, while two others engaged in battles of their own not far from them.

Isley looked over to his side at the three warriors who seemed even more intrigued about the situation than himself. He knew what it was like to be with a being far more powerful than himself, and even found himself surprised to see how accepting they seemed to be of him.

"The way Luciela is attacking those things makes me think she is temporarily blinded...She seems to be lashing out in random directions. " Galatea said.

Isley raised a brow: "Oh is that so? I wonder how you can even notice them then? Those creatures don't emit even a shred of yoki."

Galatea smiled: "There are some things that cannot be explained in words. Try being blind for a few years then ask me that again."

"But aren't they supposed to be targeting you..Isley?" Clarice said rather nervously with Miata standing defensively next to her: "You said the reason why you were weakened was because of them and that they only targeted you."

"Those things are as stupid as they are tough. But even they will attack if they are provoked. Luciela is making quite a scene after all..."

"Aren't you afraid that if you get too close they'll come for you instead?'" Galatea said.

"I suppose that could happen, but I have no doubt that woman will destroy them all before that time comes anyway" He said, watching on as the abyssal feeders slowly dwindled down one by one as Luciela's attacks occasionally connected with their heads.

He smiled as he added: "Though it must be rather annoying for her to fight them while blinded...it's a situation I definitely wouldn't want to be in.."

"It almost sounds like you feel sorry for her. Surely this cannot be the case, right silvery king?" Galatea teased.

Isley smirked without responding to her. He then put a foot forward as he began casually walk towards the organization, leaving the threes surprised warriors behind. He had already made up his mind what he was going to do, and set out to do it.

Noticing him leaving, Galatea said from behind him: "You know...the ones you seek aren't even in there. Among everyone, there is only one rebel from the group I'm associated with. Everyone else in there is most likely allied with the organization."

Isley stopped in his tracks: "earlier...you mentioned of something called the mainland?"

"yes..."

"Then that's where they must be. That's also the place where the staff must be evacuating to. I'm going to go find out more about that."

"Isley..." Galatea said before he continued to move forward, gaining his attention yet again:

"hmm?"

"I hope you have no intentions on killing any of the warriors...if you do then we have a problem."

He turned around and gave her a smile, even though he knew she couldn't see it:

"Don't worry about that. I really couldn't care less about them at the moment. All I'm interested in are answers, and I'm determined to find them."

* * *

The moment she lost her dominant arm, Rafaela, it seemed, was left at a punishing disadvantage as she fought against this powerful warrior called Cassandra and her ridiculous technique.

It was ridiculous in every sense of the word. From the incredibly low angle of her attacks, to the impressive speed of her movements and the way she always seemed to keep her centre of balance through rotation. Though looking completely unorthodox, even its efficiency was off the charts to the point of ridiculousness. There was no sign Cassandra was succumbing to exhaustion, nor did she even seem to be breaking a sweat.

Rafaela especially prided herself for her swordplay, but never before had she had to face an opponent of this difficulty. She often trained fighting with her left hand incase the situation ever came that she would be forced to use it, and that situation had finally presented itself in the strangest of manners. Through all this, Rafaela still calculated that her movements have not been effected much at all however.

She had trained hard to make sure it would be that way.

During those times, she was the assassin of the organisation, a warrior working in the shadows doing whatever jobs she was given in secret. Many generations of warriors gone and went, but not once did she ever come in contact with any of them for decades.

But there was one day when a young trainee named Teresa had managed to somehow sense her aura and discover her as she walked by certain town.

Little Teresa was very talented in a lot of fields, including an unparalleled ability to sense yoki along with a deeply disturbing latent power. She asked if the child had a sister, and felt a strange sense of relief when the answer was no. Due to Teresa's deep fascination with her, the two would often meet in the wilderness without the organisations knowledge and practice with the blade.

Rafaela grew to care for Teresa and taught her all that she knew of the blade, but most of all, the especial importance of suppressing yoma powers. The child learned at an amazing pace, and though she was a trainee at the time, Rafaela knew she could easily compete with even a single digit warrior even at such a young age.

But as the months of training dragged on, Rafaela began to see this little girl more and more as her younger sister, something she had been trying hard to avoid at all costs. The last thing she wanted was to betray the memory of her own sister, Luciela, and replace her with this new person.

Feeling she was getting too attached to her, Rafaela knew that leaving Teresa was the right thing to do in the end for the both of them. So on the day when Teresa's strength fast approached her own, Rafaela broke off all contact from the young warrior, making sure she wouldn't be found again.

It pained her knowing that young Teresa would often look for her in their usual meeting places, but not once did she reveal herself. Rafaela hoped she would eventually vanish from the child's mind for good on due time. It was for the best for both of them after all. Besides, the training she had Given young Teresa had set her for life,and knew she would no doubt make it to the position of number one and stay for a very, very long time.

This was Rafaela's gift to the young trainee.

Cassandra snaked along the right side of Rafaela's leg, her body brushing against the dirt as she tornadoed past her. Deflecting the lighting fast attacks aimed for her right ankle, Rafaela threw a calculated kick to her side, and just as she had panned, her heavy boot scraped across the side of Cassandra's head as it wobbled past her. A near direct hit that left her temporarily staggered as a result.

Cassandra lost control of her own momentum, her body spinning backwards a few paces away. She landed safely on her feet however, holding the side of her bleeding head feverishly.

_That's weird...my movements seem a little sluggish at times...as if something external is affecting me..._

_I'm not sure what I'm even doing here..._

_All I know is that I must kill someone I've never heard of before..._

"I don't believe...I even know your name..." Cassandra said shyly.

"Rafaela."

"I am so envious...I wish I could fight like you." Cassandra said, turning her head off to the side as she wiped the dirt off her face shamefully.

Rafaela stared blankly at her, blade still lowered towards the ground. Even now she prepared for any sudden attacks by her opponent.

"Don't take yourself lightly. That technique is very powerful. It's especially dangerous due to the surprise factor as well. Even a warrior much stronger than yourself would simply be caught off guard by its strangeness."

"I know...it's just..."

Rafaela added: "Actually, in terms of efficiency, It really is one of the most powerful techniques i've ever seen, and i've lived a very long time."

Cassandra stopped patting the dust off her face. A blush settled across her as she heard those words, but her opinion of her own technique was still the same. She still disliked it greatly and wished she didn't need it to survive. But hearing such praise from such a skilled warrior was something she would never get tied of hearing of.

However, a sudden distraction alerted them as they looked off to their sides. Luciela had already managed to destroyed half the organisations HQ in her attempt to catch the lighting fast warrior, and now even the grande centre building collapsed under her fury.

Though being praised earlier, Cassandra was getting nervous. Never before had she faced such a powerful opponent before, and the presence of this monstrous awakened one wasn't helping either.

"Listen, I don't know you, and i'm not even sure who I am, so if you don't mind, can I just concede?" Cassandra said, eyeing the distant abyssal nervously then setting her sights upon a stumped Rafaela a moment later.

"Meet your end with honor. Do not lie to me." Rafaela said boldly.

"But...i'm not actually lying...how can I end my life with honor if I don't even know who I am?"

Rafaela raised a brow at this odd warrior and her equally strange behavior. Cassandra's claims of memory loss were convincing enough, But hearing from Irene about how Teresa died had taught her not to lower her guard against even the most genuine looking of opponents.

Rafaela set her mind back to the day when she first met another warrior named Priscilla. Rubel had introduced the trainee to her for only a short while during Teresa's reign as number one. At the time, Priscilla clearly stood out from all the other talents, harboring abilities that could potentially rival Teresa. Her mind, however, had been twisted by the organization to believe a false sense of justice from birth, claiming it was her job to kill all yoma in the world. The little girl said that she was willing to do anything to achieve this, something Rafaela didn't think of much at the time.

Rubel also asked her to teach Priscilla how to properly conceal her yoki, a technique she was already very gifted in doing. Though having her suspicions, Rafaela completed the order unquestionably, and taught the girl all that she knew.

It was only a few days of this training when Priscilla's yoki suppression began to surpass her own, and knew that not even Teresa herself would not be able to read the yoki from this girl's body.

When she heard from Rubel that Teresa was killed, her heart was riddled with a strange sadness and regret. There wasn't a shred of doubt in her mind that Priscilla was responsible for her death. She was the only one after all who could possibly do it among all the others after all.

"Hey is something the matter?" Cassandra said, staring oddly at her opponent.

"No, it's nothing." Rafaela snapped.

"I don't get it...just who are you and why are you attacking the organization?"

As Rafaela processed the confused warriors' thoughts, something had suddenly caught her attention. Shifting her focus back to Lucielas's battle, her insides twisted when she sensed that her sister was in great pain. Swarming her were a multitude of strange creatures that frenziedly attacked her like a pack of wild animals. Already some parts of her awakened body had been damaged, yet still she continued to fight on relentlessly with wounds that no doubt bore great weight against her.

_Sister..._

_Hold on Luciela...I won't let them hurt you..._

"Sorry, but I'll be back. Try to stay here." Rafaela said, storming towards the direction of her sister.

Cassandra merely stared at her strangely, still entirely unsure of what was going on and whether she should pursue Rafaela or not.

* * *

The moment Raki woke deep in the night, he immediately noticed that both Teresa and Clare, as well as Miria and Priscilla were missing. He quickly looked around the dorms and the nearby areas but to no avail, there was no sign of them anywhere. Shrugging this off, he exited the dorms silently, heading for the exercise courtyard that was filled with hoards of training equipment and arrays of training dummies scattered throughout. He rested against the side of one that seemed long overdue for replacement and was left to his own thoughts. Around him there was nothing but silence as he stood alone in the vast field feeling the chilly breeze against him. He looked up into the sky at the silvery moon that shined so brilliantly in the darkness, wondering a lot of things. Things about the future, about those he cared about and his ultimate purpose.

"Hello there. Just decided to go for a walk, what a coincidence I find you here." Ophelia said, coming out of the shadows to see Raki left alone to his own thoughts.

"What do you want?" he replied irritably, clearly not thrilled to see her of all people.

"Just passing by to say a friendly hello. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Go to hell."

"Your group is full of interesting individuals, especially Priscilla. She's a complete freak you know. Even among the abyssal ones Priscilla is clearly in her own league. It would be rather interesting to see what would happen if she awakens in this place."

"That's not going to happen."

"And this Teresa of the Faint Smile is rather interesting as well."

"What of her?" Raki asked suspiciously.

"Of course seeing as I left my final will to Clare after almost dying, you can see why I was interested in researching her further. Did you know Clare has Teresa's flesh and blood implanted into her?"

"No...I didn't know...that." he said, looking genuinely surprised.

"I wonder why the organisation is reviving first ranking warriors all of a sudden?" Ophelia said.

"Who knows... they do a lot of things." He said, still processing her previous words.

"You know, I even managed to persuade Irene to tell me what she saw back then," she said, gazing coldly into Raki's eyes: "It turns out that when Priscilla and Teresa fought, the difference in power was simply too great. Teresa was far superior."

"What's your point?"

Ophelia grinned: "Priscilla lost to Teresa. She collapsed to the ground, defeated, and begged Teresa to remove her head before she awakened. Teresa lowered her guard for a moment allowing Priscilla to strike and end the fight in the most dishonorable of fashions. All this apparently happened before Clare's eyes."

Noticing the impact she had made on him, Ophelia continued with a malevolent elegance: "What a pathetic warrior this Priscilla is don't you think?"

"If that's what really happened that day, then that's most regrettable..."

" Given these circumstances i'm sure Clare would have killed Priscilla if she had the chance surely?..." Ophelia said, then changing her tone dramatically, clicking her fingers together as though gaining great insight: "Could...it be that...She plans to befriend Priscilla before finishing her off with a cheap shot? That would be rather devious don't you think? Sort of an ultimate revenge scenario. If she really wanted Priscilla to suffer...she would do something like that I think."

This took him by surprise. He never actually thought of something like that. But he feared there have been some truth to what Ophelia said.

_There's no doubt that Clare hates Priscilla, even after all this time... But does she really have it in her to do something like that? I don't think so..._

"Lost to your own thoughts?" Ophelia said with a wide grin.

"Even if Clare is capable of something like that, it wouldn't surprise me. " he said.

"What do you mean?" Ophelia said.

"If you had killed Clare that day, I would be a different person today I can tell you that."

"You can't possibly mean...following the same path as Clare..." Ophelia said, her grin widening at the thought.

"But, because you didn't, I suppose I should thank you in a way."

She stared at him oddly now: "Thank me? I think I may have accidentally hit you in the head back then."

With a smirk Raki said: "Seven years ago you gave me the fight of my life, and though I had no hope of winning at the time, I suppose in a way it only made me stronger. If I would have stayed with Clare, I would have be a burden. So, in a way, our separation has been a good thing in the end for us both."

Ophelia's excitement grew. No longer was he that small and scrawny kid from her memory. He grew to be quite a capable man in his own right, yet still maintained that determination from before. He was most fascinating to her.

"I'm almost jealous of Clare now..." she said, running her eyes across his male physique lustfully and sending a wink his way: "What do you say we forget about the past for one night and have a little fun with me tonight? You're just too much and I can barely take it!"

"Sorry, i'd rather gauge my own eye out." he said.

Ophelia chuckled at this, then pulling her Claymore out from its sheath a moment later.

"Oh that's no fun, too bad. Then how about a rematch from that time? I think I would enjoy that even more now that I think about it. I'm rather curious to see how far you've come."

Raki gave her a mischievous look. "You're the number two, right? If that's the case, then I'll just have to take your title if I win."

"Oh so you plan to strip me of my title...how devious of you. If you do end up defeating me then I will just have to surrender my title over to you I suppose. But for such a large wager, there must be an equally large consequence " Ophelia said, placing a finger on her lips as she was left to her own thoughts for a moment.

"I can't imagine anything more horrid already...than losing to you." Raki said.

"I suppose you're right. My guilty pleasure has always been playing with my opponents, but I don't see anything wrong with that do you?"

Raki stared at her blankly, memories of his first encounter with the blood soaked warrior now flooding his mind. He remembered specifically the incredible stinging pain from the many cuts Ophelia had created upon his young body while Clare was left to tend to her own wounds. He remembered the crazed look in her eyes when he refused to submit himself to the far greater power before him.

"I wouldn't get too excited, because that's not going to happen. Besides, I still haven't figured out if I like to play with my opponents either, so I guess we'll find out." He said, drawing his blade and assuming an attack stance.

"Oh you are so confident of yourself that's so cute of you! You're the same as Clare! Wait...no your even more fun than her! I'm really going to enjoy this..."She said, her grin widening as the two stared each other down.

"You talk too much, let's get this over with."

* * *

Swiftly making her way through a forest of aging redwood trees, Teresa dashed up the side of a steep rocky mountainside as she headed for the crest. After what seemed like a small choir, the summit was finality at her reach, and a thin blanket of icy water vapor condensed this high up, the mist getting noticeably thicker as the elevation increased. Teresa liked the feeling of the frosty air and the chilly winds that brushed past her, It was a refreshing change of scenery from what life back at the island.

Arriving at the very top, Teresa gazed outwards to see what she could see. The surrounding lands before her were littered with the same huge rocky mountain ranges, with equally massive Valleys between them. Below her there was a silvery river running in the middle of a valley, and next to that was where a certain two individuals fought each other under the pale moonlight. Tree after tree fell as a consequence of their misguided strikes, the ancient structures echoing their destruction around the surround valley, contained by the great mountains that encased it.

The two of them fought at their limits, looking as if either was going to awaken at any moment. Clare, especially was what was concerning for Teresa. All four of her limbs had already awakened and yet there was no doubt in her mind that Clare still remained fully conscious of herself and her opponent, something Teresa still struggled to comprehend.

Teresa's trail of thought was suddenly interrupted when she heard the faint sound of the phantoms' feet touching down behind her. She sighed, knowing who it already was without looking. Originally, she tried to avoid attracting any attention and coming to investigate the disturbance herself, but it seems that being followed was unavoidable. There was nothing she could really do about it however, and expected such a thing to happen. She wasn't the only one who cared for Clare after all.

"Sorry, but when I realized Clare was missing, I just had to follow you." Miria said, walking up next to Teresa to gaze at the battle far below.

"Even I cannot outrun you it seems." Teresa said.

"I know you can move much faster if you wanted to." Miria said.

Teresa smiled: "So could you."

"That's true," Miria said as she walked up to the former number one.

The two of them watched on as a distant Clare and Priscilla fought each other furiously close to a steep cliffside. Neither was willing to give up it seemed, fighting without holding anything back. Due to this, it was doubtful either of them had even noticed they were being watched.

At that moment, the third arrival, Irene finally appeared through the darkness behind them. Arriving equally silently, the warrior with long faded silvery hair quickly joined them.

"Struggling to keep up?" Teresa said.

"I was not aware this was supposed to be some sort of race." Irene said, joining them along the edge: "So then, what exactly are those two up to?"

The three of them fell into silence as they concentrated on the commotion from afar.

On the other end of the huge valley, Clare and Priscilla emerged out of a forest of trees, still lost in the thrill of battle as the two headed for a rather steep rocky cliffside. Beneath this was the rocky river that ran its way through the paths created by the great mountains.

I hope they realize that they're heading towards that cliffside..." Miria said.

"Clare is no stranger to these things I'm afraid..." Teresa sighed.

"The two of them have more in common than they would like to admit..." Irene said.

Teresa shot her former comrade a strange glare. Though she tried to dismiss the thought, it was clear that Irene was right to a certain extent. Both Priscilla and Clare had an abnormal determination to get what they wanted, even at the cost of pushing themselves beyond logical reasoning to complete their goals.

Teresa wasn't entirely comfortable with these certain similarities however. While she cared greatly for one of them, the other had also been the one that removed her head once before.

Looking at the reaction of Teresa, the other two were surprised to see her looking rather calm and seemingly unworried. Given that her and Clare seemed like overprotective sisters, they never expected Teresa to look so undisturbed in such a situation.

Miria pondered to herself for a moment:

_Teresa no longer sees that little girl she met a long time ago, instead, she sees a warrior that's rapidly growing in power..._

_It seems Teresa has finally accepted Clare as an equal..._

_or could it be, possibly even..._

Suddenly the three snapped their attention back upon Clare's and Priscilla's clash off in the distance. Drunk with adrenalin and lost in the thrill of battle, one of them lost their balance over the edge of the cliff, and out of desperation, grabbed the other as she fell. Though they both lunged down the huge canyon towards the rocky lake below, their passion in their battled didn't seem affected in the slightest.

"Ridiculous...they fight each other even as they fall..." Miria said in awe.

"They are fighting as if they are genuinely trying to kill each other..." Irene said.

The wavy haired warrior remained silent for a while, no doubt a clash of thoughts going on in her mind. She had her eyes locked on to the battle like a hawk, and after a prolonged moment of silence, they heard her undisturbed voice:

"Clare know's what she's doing."

Hearing that from Teresa seemed to confirm Miria's theory thus far. A proud smirk coming across her features a second later.

"It's interesting, but I don't believe any other Claymore in history has risen so much in power as Clare has," Miria said as she grabbed the other two's undivided attention as she added: "True strength is the ability to be able to rise over seemingly impossible obstacles. Clare remains truly undefeated in that department."

"Most of her achievements were no doubt from luck and a little help, but still, there is something different from her I agree. To think that the title of the strongest Claymore could very well belong to the former number forty- seven, Clare." Irene said.

Hearing this, Teresa suddenly planted her Claymore into the rocky ground with a powerful thrust, then proceeded to close her eyes, remaining in complete silence as she stood serenely. She knew that Clare had potential to rival even that of herself, but always seemed at the mercy of her own strange powers which never seemed to be fully under her control.

_I know what I have to do..._

"What are you doing...? Teresa?" Irene said, brow raised.

"Soul link..." Miria whispered, her hands crossed together in intrigue.

"Oh this is going to be rather interesting..."

The two of them watched on curiously as the wavy haired warrior attempted to perform the forbidden technique, her mind focused entirely on a single thought only.

Clare.

* * *

So there its done :) I liked how this chapter ended up, and pretty much threw in whatever i thought would give the story a little more 'life'. i know theres a lot of things going on, but i don't think thats a bad thing necessarily, i dunno.

I've always like Rafaela as a character, I'm not sure why. I always thought there was something more to her and Teresa than what manga mentioned, so this chapter portrays my thoughts on those two.

As for Hysteria, well, the author didn't really give her much of a personality, so i thought i'd try to get a little more in her mind. For some reason i do like her, and i'm a little disappointed with how she ended up in the manga.

anyways, don't forget to leave a comment if you like this story, or if you have some ideas/tips then please let me know as i would love to hear from you guys.

until next time.


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter 48.

For some reason I found myself really fascinated with the three resurrected warriors from the manga, so i've decided to incorporate them in this story in a rather large way. I hope people enjoy this chapter :)

Anne E. Casap: yeah Galatea and Teresa are very similar i suppose your right. Never really thought about it in such a way. Thanks, i guess i may incorporate these ideas in future chapters.

all those talking about chapter 14: lol there seems to be lots of love for that chapter. Teresa and Clare are both simply too awesome of characters and it seems just too cruel for them never to meet, thats why i did that chapter the way i did.

and yes as you guys know i am a big fan of plot twists. I guess it's because i simply can't make up my mind most of the time :S

At this point i'm not sure exactly where to go with this. The manga is getting pretty good in itself, and i really do like Roxanne's awakened form, and strangely even Cassandra's one as well. But Hysteria's awakened form seems so...meh. just my opinion. not sure what the author is trying to there. but anyways, enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Amongst the ruined battlefield of the organizations centre, Hysteria thundered around the dazed Luciella, at the same time taking advantage of the handful of abyssal feeders that continued to weaken her enormous target. Her blade sunk deeper in the awakens now exploded bits of flesh, inflicting convincing wounds upon those areas. Luciela's left arm had already long been eaten away, and small portions of her body scarred with tiny bite marks from the furious struggle. One of her two tails was simply damaged until it could no longer support its own weight, and the other was left as the last line of defense against the abyssal feeders, though just barely it seemed.

Though she was wounded, there wasn't any doubt it would take much more to bring someone of her caliber down any time soon. Luciela was simply far superior to her many smaller pponents, but the continuation of being objected to their many nibbling attacks added up very quickly into something of a problem.

Roxanne watched on from a safe distance as Hysteria engaged in the frenzied mess before her. The strikingly tall, elegant warrior moved like thunder, appearing in one place for a moment then disappearing in the next only to reappear somewhere entirely different. Hysteria instantaneous speed bursts were so mesmerizingly fast, that is was as if her body vanished into the wind, creating a rather blurry afterimage in her wake. As she passed her target, a perfectly uniform splash of blood sprayed outwards in an arc, looking almost like water emerging a great fountain. Hysteria was elegant indeed. Even in the midst of such an monstrous battle, the wounds she inflicted upon her opponents were so quick and precise that it almost could pass as a thing of beauty.

Roxanne was mesmerized by Hysteria's amazing movements. She had never seen anyone move so quickly and elegantly before. It was a speed even she had found difficult to keep track of. She thought this was something that she absolutely needed for herself. Such movements were both beautiful and deadly at the same time. A perfect combination in her mind.

_I can't really explain it, but for some reason I feel the urge to find someone named Teresa..._

_I wonder if that's her..._

"...Are you alright? Is there something wrong?" Dietrich said, staring oddly at Roxanne who had a wide grin while watching Hysteria with crazed eyes.

Roxanne lookied at each one of their faces curiously: "Do any of you know of a warrior named Teresa?"

"No...there is no current warrior by that name..." Nina said.

"Now that you say that name, There was a former number one named Teresa...and I heard her body went missing recently..." Dietrich said.

"Oh so you were the type to research the old warriors?."

"Sometimes looking back can be an inspiration for the future." Dietrich added.

Roxanne seamed pleased with what she heard. With this information, the warrior she was seeking was probably reanimated like herself was either still in this place or had already moved to the mainland that Audrey had spoken of before.

"Say, Did you do research on myself?" she asked curiously.

"I briefly remember your name yes...Roxanne of Love and Hate if I remember correctly..."

"Making my mark in history...i'm glad to know i've made a dent."

The group returned their attention back to the battle up ahead as a sudden smashed up corpse of an abyssal feeder hit the side of a building they stood besides. Bits of flesh clung like melted butter against the edge of the thick stone building walls, a splash of its blood now tainting the brilliant silver of their once pristinely clean shoulder pads.

"That resurrected one is a tough bastard to even survive so close to that Luciela... There's no way I'm going in there..." Rachiel said.

Roxanne turned to face this rather tomboyish looking warrior with a short spiky haircut and thick cheekbones. She looked rather tough on the outside, but seemed the type to be rather vulnerable on the inside.

"Say...you're the number five right?" Roxanne said, giving the warrior a strange stare that clearly made her seem quite uncomfortable.

"That's right..." she replied warily.

The others watched on in surprise as the former number one extended her hand towards Rachel's face, and gently brushing the side of her cheek with the tips of her fingers in an almost sensual manner.

"What's your name again? Forgive me as I've seem to forgotten..." Roxanne said with a seductive smile, their faces separated by mere inches.

"Just what..." Rachel said, dumbfounded by this strange action, though finding herself blushing from the close proximity.

"You know what It doesn't even matter..."

The others couldn't believe their eyes when Roxanne's smile suddenly turned into what could only be described as a hysterical grin, then quickly shoving Rachel forwards with frightening strength. The others watched on in horror as one of their own sped towards the already frenzied awakened one and the numerous inhuman creatures that ravaged it.

"Ray!" the other three yelled in synchronisation.

While they were left horrified, Roxanne, instead, fell to a mad laughter as she watched the helpless warrior smash into the side of the giant Luciela, then colliding violently against rubble below a second later. The abyssal feeders didn't seem to take much notice of the seemingly unconscious warrior that seemed dazed but not seriously injured.

"You bastard! You're not my leader!" Dietrich yelled, reaching for her claymore but had the wind blown out of her as her face was thrust into the dirt by Roxanne's powerful hand.

As hard as Dietrich tried, it was clear Roxanne's superior strength was far too dominating to overcome. The number one knelt over her weaker victim casually with a look of satisfaction across her face.

"Dietrich!" both anastasia and Nina belched in a fright, drawing their blades nervously against Roxanne who held their friend in a death grip.

"Release her now!" Nina warned, though looking extremely cautious about it.

Though her and Anastasia both looked heavily intimidated by this powerful warrior, that still didn't seem to effect their determination of helping their friend against this maniac of a warrior. They were perfectly aware that Roxanne was far stronger than they were, But they simply refused to tolerate such things.

Roxanne looked at the two battle-ready warriors and smiled to herself. She then turned her attention down at her victim who screeched endlessly but was too muffled to make out due to her face being planted in the dirt.

"Relax. Lucky for you there's already one called the dust eater. I'll let go but you have to listen and do what I say from now on alright?"

Hearing this, Dietrich put an end to her struggle with a grunt and immediately Roxanne proudly released her death grip from her neck. She watched vampirously as Dietrich got to her feet, her face covered in the red dirt, left humiliated by the far stronger warrior before her.

"Are you...completely...mad?" Dietrich said weakly.

"Mad? Who me? Why no. I merely made a strategic decision to use that number five as a test. Just as I suspected...it seems those things don't target warriors ...I may have saved your lives with this knowledge. "

"You call that...a strategic decision?" a dumfounded Anastasia said.

The three warriors stared very oddly at this warrior. She really creeped them out like no other. At this point they wondered if the abyssal was really the enemy afterall and if they should be focusing their attention on this particular resurrected number one instead.

"What's this?" Roxanne said, her gentle face sinking into annoyance as she noticed an incoming warrior heading towards them.

Her group turned towards the warrior Roxanne had spotted and felt a strange sense of relief when they identified her as Rafaela. Though Rafaela was technically their enemy, the thought of being left alone with Roxanne was unimaginable, and would gladly welcome any distraction, even of it was an enemy who may want to kill them afterwards. At this point, anything was better than Roxanne.

Roxanne's' rather calm and gentle looking face then turned into deeper annoyance as she grunted: "Honestly that girl never does anything useful...at least she could have held this one off for a little longer...How irritating."

Rafaela quickly took notice of the four warriors and appeared before them quickly as she slid against the dirt, stopping to a standstill a second later. Though her dominant hand had been removed, She held her weapon steadily with her remaining left hand, analyzing the situation before her closely.

Roxanne smirked: "Having a single eye...you must have trained yourself to read an opponents yoki to compensate for your lack of depth perception... That probably helped you a lot in your previous battle isn't that right?"

Rafaela's attention quickly shot to this rather odd looking warrior that stood so confidently before her. She figured this was another one of the resurrected ones, who no doubt possessed an impressive strength.

"You are another one of the resurrected number ones...Dead people should be dead and I'm sorry, but I just can't have you attacking that awakened." Rafaela said, marching towards the group, her gaze set upon her single target. Upon Roxanne.

"My my If Cassandra cannot kill you then I suppose you must be pretty tough...I wonder if I can defeat you..." Roxanne said, raising her blade cautiously against this incoming threat.

The other three quickly noticed that Rafaela seemed to have no intentions of targeting them and quickly backed away leaving Roxanne to herself. They left in the direction of Luciela, no doubt attempting to retrieve their defenseless friend that lay so dangerously close to the frenzied abyssal.

"Oh dear it appears as if I'm left to fight by myself. But I suppose that's for the best anyway. It's not like anyone's ever helped me anyway."

"I will send you back to your grave..." Rafaela said, before suddenly sprinting towards an already maddened Roxanne.

"My... Is that so?"

Rafaela's opening slice was quickly sidestepped by a maddened Roxanne, who responded with a clever counter with the blade but was quickly parried by her surprisingly erskilled opponent. The two continued to exchange frenzied attacks against each other, skillfully dodging and clashing blade for blade for as they tried to outmaneuver the other. Both of them fought with suburb fighting technique, but as the short exchange continued on, it quickly became clear just who was the better of the two. Roxanne barely managed to evade one of Rafaela's closing sweeps that threatened to remove her head, responding by pacing herself backwards in response,distancing her from her opponent and giving her some time to recover.

She looked over at her side and noticed that she had been cut across the side, but the wound healed almost instantaneously before her eyes. Roxanne quickly found herself lost in excitement over this. She set her sight back upon her opponent and grinned:

"Oh my oh my I've never fought against anyone as skilled as yourself..." She said with an almost hypnotic stare: "Against someone like me it's truly impressive that you can hold your own with a front of clash...tell me, what was your former rank? I presume you were in the top three at least."

Rafaela paused for a moment to have a look at Luciela and her desperate battle. Her sister was still under attack by whatever was left of those strange humanoid creatures and another one of the resurrected ones. Though she had been wounded, and currently blinded, she knew that her sister could probably manage herself for a while longer. If she wanted to help her sister then she it was up to her to destroy this other strong one that stood in the way. Roxanne.

"Such things like ranks don't matter. Either kill or be killed That is all that's important in the end." Rafalea sneered.

"Kill or be killed huh...i admire such straight forward thinking..."

* * *

Rubel's eyes ran across the sharp edge of Audrey's blade that threatened to slice him in two at any given second. Though he knew that Audrey wasn't the type to enjoy killing things other than yoma and awakened ones, she definitely had it in her to end his life. Around them the organization was on the verge of destruction, and for a moment he thought he was done for, but quickly smiled to himself when he noticed a strange warrior suddenly appear from behind them. A warrior with short silvery hair and elongated ears, one of Dae's resurrected ones with traces of dirt across the tip of her nose from her battle before.

"Just...what's going on here?" Cassandra said, glaring at the situation before her suspiciously.

Audrey quickly turned around to face this newcomer, and lowered her blade in response. She looked over to her side and could see that Raftella stood a small distance away, focusing her attention on the battle with the abyssal one a little distance away from them.

"I thought you were fighting that other one..." Audrey said rather nervously, still unsure whether this new warrior was friend or foe.

"I was...but now i'm not...it seems." Cassandra said.

"Forgive me...but I am Audrey, and yourself being?"

Cassandra remained silent for a moment. The look on her face made it seem that she was lost to deep thought, or simply fought a futile battle against her long lost memories.

"I don't know...I don't remember..."

"How can you...not know?"

Rubel cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the two warriors. A grimace appeared on his sneery lips as he said in a newfound confidence.

"You sure have good timing there. I can answer that question for you. You're name is Cassandra and you're a former first ranking warrior, and a rather powerful one at that."

"Former..." Cassandra said softly under her breath. Her thoughts no doubt teaming with a flood of new memories those words brought forth.

"You see, there appears to be an invasion against the organization and I would appreciate it if you killed this traitor for me," He said, hinting over at Audrey's direction: "She has been quite the nuisance of the late. "

Audrey's eyes widened at what she heard, quickly setting her sight upon Cassandra to see the response from the resurrected warrior. She had no doubts that this warrior could very well still be indoctrinated to follow orders from her so called superiors. She didn't want to fight this warrior. She didn't want her limbs removed. Such a thought honestly horrified her.

"My name...that's right...now I remember," Cassandra said, looking closely at the palm of her own hand before adding: "I was killed by many...There were so many warriors..."

"Yes yes now please dispose of this warrior for me." Rubel hissed, putting Cassandra's thoughts to an end as he added: "Please remove all her limbs...if you know what i mean... then please pass your weapon over to me afterwards. It's not usual for me to get my hands dirty, but in this case, I wish to finnish her off personally."

"Hold on a second don't listen to him!" Audrey screeched, her nervousness rising.

There was no way Audrey could defeat such a powerful warrior. She had already witnessed Cassandra doing battle a little earlier, and knew her particular technique was something her gentle sword simply couldn't handle.

_Having my limbs removed one by one..._

_then killed when I cannot defend myself..._

_What a way to go..._

Cassandra nodded with a questionable confidence, but quickly set her sights upon her enemy raising her blade and assuming her particular attack stance.

"I'm sorry. But I have no choice. I cannot allow you to turn your blade against one of the organization's men...you must know the penalty for that is death."

_Damn..._

_this is not good..._

_..._

_Why do i suddenly wish that Roxanne was here?_

_It would be even better if Teresa was here... or Priscilla...or even Clare._

_I wonder what they would do... or how they would fare..._

"Tell me...how did it come to be that someone as powerful as you died..." Audrey said nervously, taking careful steps backwards in response to Cassandra walking towards her casually.

"I don't remember, but even if I did why would that matter?" Cassandra said, her heavy boots making their marks in the soil with each passing step she took closer.

Raftaella's attention now shifted back to their direction. The number ten looking unsure whether to flee or stay to help. It was clear that even she knew it was a hopeless situation against a warrior that was so far ahead of them both.

"Run to your comrades Raftella...I'm done for..." Audrey said sadly.

_At least I slowed down Rubel only for a moment..._

_There's no doubt his plans for Teresa and Clare would probably mean the death of us all..._

_And Raki..._

_I just wish I could see him once more...the man that changed my life..._

_I hope you will continue to live on..._

"Run to her comrades, You mean us?" a voice said from their sides, disrupting Audrey's thoughts.

Turning over, Audrey could see her former comrades, the remaining single digit warriors suddenly standing before her. Dietrich appeared slightly distressed, Nina, a blank expression on her face, and among them, the leader Anastasia lowered an injured Rachel aside while they all eyed Audrey with a strange yet welcoming looks.

"I suppose this is the goodbye I've never said..." Audrey said, her face drenched in sadness.

"We don't care if you're a so called traitor. The organization is done for and besides...we've always been friends after all so I suppose it just wouldn't seem right to just stand by and let you die." Anastasia said.

"Yeah Audrey, don't you think we'll let you die..." Rachel added with a smirk, getting to her feet despite the pain she was in due to earlier: "We've been through quite a lot together you and I huh? i plan to keep it that way."

"You guys..." Audrey said shyly, touched by this unexpected affection from her friends.

Anastasia turned to Cassandra and said with a rebellious smirk: "Sorry, but we knew her longer than we knew you...so if you want to kill her then you'll have to kill all of us as well."

Cassandra lowered her blade in awe. She didn't know what to think. Was she really prepared to cut down all these warriors? Her death, after all had been one of a very similar situation, though just how similar she couldn't just remember, but it was a prospect she didn't feel comfortable with.

* * *

"HAHAHAHA You're simply astounding! You fight with only one arm and yet you wield that blade so well! It's as if you've perfected swordplay for decades at an end!" Roxanne yelled hysterically as she hastily parried attack after attack from Rafaela's clever sword movements.

"You're supposed to be a first ranking warrior? the other one was far superior..." Rafaela said, taking her attacks up a notch.

Responding soundly with her own struggling defense, Roxanne replied with a smile: "But that technique is so ugly and pathetic! It's something warriors like us just don't want!"

Though Rafaela strangely agreed with this crazed warrior, but continued her assault on her nonetheless. Roxanne was a very skilled fighter. Held her weapon well, and wielded a style of the blade so unique it could be considered a technique in itself. It was, however, clear to them both who was the better fighter from the very beginning.

"Are you...admiring my fighting style?" Roxanne grinned.

"There is nothing to admire against an inferior opponent."

Reacting to this by flooding her body with an increased level of yoki, Roxanne's eyes beamed a devilish yellow and her blade's acceleration increased quite noticeably as a result. Even though this was the case, Rafaela didn't seem to have any trouble with keeping up. The technique Roxanne learned from the number five of her time, Elizabeth, truly met its match for the first time against this invader.

"Tell me...you're not awakened are you?" Roxanne said, breaking away from the battle yet again and placing a single finger against her lips as she pondering something: "You don't seem to be awakened...so why do you so desperately seek to defend this particular awakened one from me? its simply ridiculous!"

Rafaela stared blankly at Roxanne but did not respond in any way. There was no reason for her to answer such a question anyway as this was a warrior she was determined to defeat within the next minute. Looking into Roxanne's eyes, there was definitely something very strange about this warrior. There was no empathy or shock, instead, it seemed more as if she received some sort of twisted pleasure from this particular situation. A very strange reaction indeed, especially due to her knowledge in the subject.

Rafaela was always good at reading the emotions from others. From a very early age she had been trained by the organizations' top men to do so, being told it was vital to the soul linking experiment with Luciela to succeed. For one to be able to latch on to the pure consciousness of another during awakening, they must know the entirety of the other individual, and such a bond was only possible with sisters. The task was deemed so difficult that succeeding practically bordered on impossible, but the higher-ups of the organization were determined to stake a large amount of resources and time in the hopes that the experiment was to be a success.

During those early years, when the two of them were merely children, the only life they ever really knew we're each others. Among the other trainees, both her and Luciela were by far the strongest, equaled in every way only by the other. Rarely were they ever let out to come in contact with the their fellow comrades, but when those rare occasions came, they were usually very brief and conversation was mostly discouraged.

While they were both shockingly similar in a lot of ways , there was only one aspect where they differed. Rafaela cared nothing for the ranks while her sister had dreamt of nothing else but holding the title as number one. The two would often stay awake and listen to the wondrous tales her sister would say about all the enemies she layed waste to in such dreams and how she was the strongest ever.

Before long these dreams grew to being an obsession, and Rafaela often noticed that during their training matches, her sister would push herself just that extra further in the hopes of attaining even greater strengths. Rafaela could see the determination on her sister's face, and often allowed herself to lose so she wouldn't shatter her sisters ever increasing confidence.

As the two sisters grew older, so did their strength increase accordingly, and it wasn't long until they replaced the numbers one and two at the time. Rafaela remembered that there was only a short dispute between the men about which one of them were to receive the number one position. Both her and Luciela were equal in every way in almost all things, but In the end, the title was handed over to Luciela. They argued that her sister was deemed superior only by a very slight margin, using their observations during training as their basis.

Luciela was beyond ecstatic when she heard the news, and the sight of seeing her sister so happy truly warmed Rafaela's heart. She didn't need to read facial gestures to know this, because by that time, she knew her sister even better than she knew herself.

Though being numbers one and two, rarely did they ever leave the organization. There were a handful of times when they were released to take care of some particularly powerful awakened ones, but most of their times were devoted to their own training, in particular the soul link experiment.

Within due time, Luciela's bliss quickly turned into arrogance which Rafaela found quite alarming. Instead of inspiring the other warriors, her sister merely looked down upon them, deeming them unworthy for comradeship and doing her best to ignore their presence. Only the single digits had ever been spoken to by her, but even they barely reflected in her eyes. Now that Luciela was deemed the strongest by her peers, nobody else seemed good enough for her. The only one who could hold a candle to her was Rafalea, her only equal, and her best friend.

Often they had engaged in sparring matches against each other, and due to Luciela's frenzied nature, she would often misguide her strikes and ended up wounding Rafaela unintentionally. The two tearily embraced at such times, and Rafaela smiled tenderly every time Luciela promised never to hurt her again.

The day of the soul link experiment was the worst day of Rafaela's life. Her sister was quite excited, but frightened as well, but not so much as herself. Being the one entrusted to hold on to Luciela's humanity during the awakening process, almost all the burden was on her to get the process right, and failure in doing so would reek colossal repercussions.

At first everything seemed as if it was going to alright, but very quickly the task proved to be too difficult, and Rafaela could feel Luciela's very soul slip past her fingers and fall into the abyss of nothingness.

Rafaela's heart felt as though it was ripped in two when she she had failed and allowed her sister to become a monster. Half the organization was destroyed under the awakened Luciela's fury, along with most of the warriors stationed there at the time. Ever since then, her beloved sister became known as the monster of the south. One of the abyssal ones.

Rafaela's mind quickly came back to reality, and set her eyes upon the devious smirk on Roxanne's lips. The resurrected warriors eyes screamed of a strange entrancement, a sick and twisted thought pattern no doubt behind those soft features. Rafalea didn't know what the warrior was thinking, but something was telling her that it was better if she wouldn't find out.

"That awakened from before...Could it be...that she's your long lost friend? Or possibly a sister that awakened for some reason and you can't let go or something ridiculous like that? Right?"

Upon hearing this, Rafaela sadly shifted her attention back upon her distant sister and her gruesome battle against the abyssal feeders. It was a battle Luciela would no doubt survive against, but the inclusion of that other former number one that moved like thunder in the wind was no doubt troublesome even for her.

Distracted only for a split second, Rafaela's eyes widened when she suddenly saw the harsh tip of Roxanne's hilt too late as it rammed into her face, instantly sending her vision into a blur, and causing her body to fall limp for a moment. Dazed and confused by the crushingly cheap blow, her remaining arm was sliced off in a flash, and the last thing she felt was her body hitting the floor, and her claymore being kicked off to the side.

Rafaela couldn't believe what had just happened. She lowered her guard for only a split second and this warrior took advantage of such a moment to catch her off guard. Now she lay laying against the dirt armless with an inferior advisory mocking her with a crazed smile of satisfaction and devilishly proud eyes. Roxanne's fighting style had been one of grace and power, and thus such an attack with the hilt was completely unexpected. It was a brilliant strategy by Roxanne, Rafaela thought. Brilliant but lacking a shred of honor. It was possibly the only way she could hope to win after all. An attack with the hilt was deemed the blade of evil for a reason, and was a taboo among all warriors.

"You should really pay attention in your battles, but it's as you said, in this world it's either kill or be killed." Roxanne said, looking down at her opponent with a look of sick satisfaction: "Cassandra already took one of your arms, so I thought I might as well finnish off that girl's work..."

"I don't believe it...So this is what Teresa must have felt at that time..." Rafaela said, staring up at the clouds in total bewilderment. Her blurry vision and muffled hearing only now returning back to normal.

"What did you just say?" Roxanne said, her eyes widened at the name she heard.

"It doesn't matter. Just finnish it. You disgust me." Rafaela sneered.

Roxanne stared at her oddly, but then quickly set her sight upon Hysteria's battle up ahead. Her and Luciela weren't that far off from them, and it seemed as though they could arrive at any moment. Though Roxanne had defeated this warrior, she was also determined to find out more about Teresa. For some reason this was somebody very important to her, and she wanted to find out why.

She looked down at her defenseless opponent, then, with her sly grin returning, stepped over her with a mocking arrogance, her body blocking out the sun in Rafaela's eyes down below.

"That awakened one...she's your sister isn't she?..."

Rafalea merely continued to lay there, her trauma still fresh in her mind.

"I'm right aren't I? Oh just how touching..." Roxanne said before continuing with a malevolent elegance: "That look on your face...there's no doubt she's your sister...It must be quite a sad story your past with her...but you know what's even more sad? The fact that you think she's still human! You fight for her memory but look at her! How can you still love such a thing? it's so ridiculous! your so stupid!"

Rafaela tried her best to compose herself and mask the pain she felt from this lunatic of a warrior. But as she thought on it, perhaps Roxanne was right after all. Perhaps the situation was indeed as ridiculous as she made it out to be. Perhaps it was for the best if both of them were to die here in battle. Though Luciela was her sister, she was also a monster, and only death can bring her troubled mind to a peace she now so desperately craved for them both.

Roxanne knelt down closer to her victim as she softly said: "You know what...'since you're so pathetic, i'm not going to kill you...You're going to watch your own sister dying in front you and there's not a thing you can do about it."

Rafaela's eyed widened at this. What was this warrior talking about? was she completely serious?

"Why not...just kill me? what is it to you to see me suffer any more?"

"Kill you just because you say so? That wouldn't be any fun now would it? somebody like you should learn the hard way about how foolish you really are. You really are so worthless and pathetic." Roxanne said.

The pain on the outside was nothing compared to the one on the inside. Those harsh words ran deep into the roots of Rafaela's mind, knowing full well that she could do nothing to protect her sister now from this warrior. All she could do was watch on hopelessly and only hope Luciela's suffering would soon end.

Just as Roxanne took her first step towards Luciela, the warrior's attention suddenly shifted to the side with the sound of new arrivals off to the side.

"Huh? I get interrupted yet again? i mean honestly?" Roxanne said, taking notice of three strange individuals and giving them a stare that showed her displeasure.

As she lay against the cold dirt without any arms, Rafaela turned her face to the side and immediately recognized one of the three warriors. The taller one was the blind Galatea, the other a warrior with colored hair, and the last a hybrid child standing closely by their side. Though she was so young, Rafaela knew this small one was already an extremely capable warrior on her own, possessing yoki comparable perhaps even to that of young Teresa all those years ago.

Galatea turned to a dumbfounded Rafaela: "Don't worry, just continue to lay there like that. We can handle this one."

"This is not your battle. You have no obligation to help me..." Rafaela said.

"I know. It's just that I simply chose to." Galatea replied.

"She's...not one of us..." Miata said, sniffing lightly around her, while staring suspiciously at Roxanne.

"Clarice, go and gather the young ones. Hopefully they are alright. Leave me and Miata to handle this one." Galatea said.

"Miata...are you sure?" Clarice said with a face of concern.

"I'm sure mama...this one is very strong..." the child replied.

The blind warrior then diverted her complete attention upon the rather powerful opponent before her. upon Roxanne. There was something strange about the yoki of these three powerful ones, and whatever was the nature of this strangeness, it probably wasn't going to end up being a good thing.

Galatea drew her blade against Roxanne:

"Given that there were three rather large increases in youki all of a sudden, i'm going to make a guess that you three are some sort of experiment of former number one warriors that recently became reanimated. Am I correct?"

"Perhaps, but let me ask you a question first." Roxanne said, stepping away from Rafaela and setting her maddened eyes upon the three intruders, watching on as the one with coloured hair scurried away as the blind one suggested: "Since you all appear to be such good friends, I presume you may know of someone named Teresa?"

"Why...do you want to know about Teresa?...how do you even know about her?" Galatea said suspiciously.

"It's not like I know her personally, but I just need to find out who she is. So i would appreciate it if you tell me about her."

"What...makes you think i'd tell you about Teresa?"

Roxanne merely smiled at this, sizing up the smaller one for a moment before setting her sights back upon the blind one with the long silky hair which she strangely found quite mesmerizing for some reason.

"You people are simply just not reasonable!" Roxanne cried out of frustration: "All I want is to know a single thing and nobody will tell me. It's really annoying!"

Galatea didn't respond to her. Instead, she raised her blade along with Miata, the two of them prepared for one hell of a fight.

"I see, so that's how it is. Well I suppose you're no use to me...so then just die." Roxanne sneered.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed that.

let me know what you think so far as i wouldn't mind a little bit of inspiration after all :)


	49. Chapter 49

Cassandra readied herself as the five warriors raised their blades to fight for the sake of their comrade, the one they called Audrey. Though each one of these single digits were powerful in their own right, they were far inferior to that of herself. Even if they combined forces against her it would still be completely futile. Any engagement between them would end in only one way, a most gruesome massacre of fellow comrades.

Something she didn't want.

As Cassandra glared at each of them questionably, it quickly dawned on her that each one of them knew this as well, yet somehow had the determination to challenge her anyway. Though this thinking was completely foolish, it was also a feeling Cassandra strangely understood. The bond between fellow comrades can be a strong one, and she didn't blame them for wanting to protect one of their own. Besides, there was nothing personal between them, and there would be no honor in slaughtering them with her ugly and cruel technique after all. Such a thing should not be used against fellow comrades.

At peace with her decision, Cassandra suddenly sheathed her weapon silently and shifted her attention upon the nearby battle of Luciela and Hysteria off in the distance. She ignored the strange stares upon her, and proceeded to walk down the steep sandy slope heading for the destruction bellow.

"Cassandra...what are you doing?" Audrey said, completely dumfounded.

The former number one stopped in her tracks and responded calmly : "I didn't see anything. As far as i'm concerned I have no recollection of what happened here. So I'm leaving and going to help kill that awakened one."

Audrey contemplated this situation for a second, and quickly found herself very thankful to Cassandra. The number one could have easily just ended their lives, yet, chose to play dumb instead and avoid unnecessary bloodshed. After seeing what Roxanne and Teresa were like, Audrey figured a lack of empathy was a basic attribute of all these powerful number ones, and was glad to see that Cassandra seemed different.

"Playing the amnesia card Cassandra?" Rubel smirked.

"I don't know what you're talking about. As you said I've recently been resurrected and will now defend the organization to the best of my ability. Afterwards I want you to tell me everything about my previous life..."

"Oh I see. Very well then destroy that awakened one and i'll tell you all that you want to know...just ensure my life and we have a deal."

Cassandra gave the man a quick nod, then shifted her gaze upon the baffled former warriors and Audrey.

"I need that man alive so it's in your best interest to keep him alive."

"Cassandra, why do you fight for the organisation? You've already served them in one life, you have no real obligation to serve them for a second time. Besides, theres currently a rebellion on the mainland and-" Audrey said.

"Sorry, but I don't know who's telling the truth in such situations. For all I know you could be decieving me. So until i know better, I am a warrior of the organisation and I will defend it to the best of my ability."

Cassandra turned her back to the group, then proceeded to move towards her destination. As she passed by a nervous Raftella, she paused for a moment:

"You...I would appreciate it if you do not use that technique on me this time. It gives me such a terrible headache. I hope you don't mind."

Raftella seemed surprised at this but replied by simply nodding respectfully. She didn't want to upset this most graciously generous warrior that spared both her, and her comrade's lives, even though she didn't even know them.

Cassandra turned to the direction of the invaders and the other two ressurected ones. Their battles had layed waste to the already rubble of an establishment, in a scale like nothing she had seen before. Setting her sight upon the giant invader, Cassandra simply couldn't believe how powerful this awakened being was, and just how she could have been so oblivious to something so powerful for so long. She remembered that the organization would send her on awakened being hunts during her time, but the creatures she faced were small fry compared to this monstrosity before her. Though this being the case, this was still an enemy she could defeat in the end she thought, even if it would mean her body would be covered in dust when the job is done.

As the 'famed' legendary warrior left them, Audrey was disgusted to see Rubel giving her a mocking grin.

"I've always seemed to have luck on my side, and apparently so do you it seems," Rubel said, gesturing at Audrey: "If things were a little different it would have been a horrible end for you that's for sure."

"The horrible end...will be yours i'm telling you now..." Audrey hissed back. She truly honestly hated this man, but because of Cassandra she could not kill him, and that annoyed her deeply.

"Cassandra...does she have what it takes to kill that awakened one?" Anastasia said as she watched the warrior move off in the distance: "I'm not so sure if a single warrior can do such a thing,"

"Yeah, she's impressive," Dietrich added: "but she's just a single warrior. Perhaps we should help her..."

Rubel grabbed the attention of those around him with a cough: "Out off all those that were called Claymore, it's possible that Cassandra may hold the title as the most deadly of all. So I hardly beleive she needs your help. Cassandra, Hysteria, Roxanne, and even Teresa i suppose...all of them legends of their own time. Single digits that surpassed their fellow comrades by such a large margin that their legacy would no doubt last for a very long time if left undisturbed..."

Audrey eyed him closely. At this point she wasn't sure everything he said were flat out lies, or if there was, in fact, some truth embedded in his words. There was no doubt these three legendary former number ones were all impressive on an individual level, but the fact remained that there were three of them, and that could prove troublesome for those she cared about where they ever to meet.

"What are you saying...left undisturbed..." Dietrich said.

"Unless..." Anastasia added.

Audrey wisely added: "...Due to the sheer power and influence of the single digit warriors, the organization has probably been taking measures from the very beginning to make sure the reign of their most powerful and influentail warriors don't last very long. So they either assassinate the single digits after their few years of service has been fulfilled, or ship them off to the mainland in order to avoid any possible future insurrection against the organisation."

Rubel smiled: "A pretty good theory, one that definitely holds some merit, but I can neither confirm or deny such accusations made against my organization."

"Your organization?"

"Oh did i say too much there? I'm sorry, but this land technically belongs to my home country and under its constitution, I have the right to remain silent from now on."

"Do you honestly beleive that I care what a a paper document may say?, the only thing keeping you alive is Cassandra, but soon she will destroy the invaders and after you tell her what she wants to know, I will kill you...But...Cassandra didn't say anything about inflicting a bit of pain..."

Before he could properly react, Audrey swung her blade in a downwards swipe, removing the man's dominant leg in a quick slice. Rubel fell to a single knee, blood pulsing out of his wounds. His decapitated leg lay beside him, and purple blood emerged from his wounds. Suprisingly, the smirk on his face barely changed, and pain not apparant on his featres whatsoever.

"You're really not human..."

"Neither are you," He grimmaced, kneeling with merely single knee before her: "It seems both of us have something foreign running though our blood."

"So the men of the organisation...are all yoma? or like us?" Dietrich said.

Rubel didn't respond. He meerly grabbed his decapitated leg, and placed it safely back upon the wound. They watched on in horror as the man they swore was human regenerating his leg as f he was one of them.

_-_"So then... those three are all former number one warriors...impressive indeed." A mysterious voice said from the side.

Audrey and all those aroud her suddenly turned to the direction of this strange voice and saw an equaly strange man. Long silvery hair covered a majority of his torso, welding a claymore in arm and a large cloak on his back. By the looks of him, he definately was no man of the organisation, and his particular yoki signature, though well hidden, raised a few questions on their own.

"Who exactly are you? Identify yourself." Audrey said, giving the man a suspicious stare.

"Who I am doesn't matter, but you ladies have no need to fear me. I'm not here to kill anyone in all honesty. " Isley said calmly.

"And we're supposed to just take your word for that? honestly who are you? another resurected warrior?" She said scrutinising him closely.

Isley smiled at this, but responded shortly later: "No it's not like that at all. You see, there's this strange woman who made me promise not to cause any trouble in this place, though i'm not sure just how possible that's going to be. To be honest im not even sure why I care what she says in the first place."

"Just what...are you talking about about? and who exactly is this woman you're talking about?" Anastasia said dumfounded.

"Nothing, never mind. Just ignore me and i'll ignore you. I am not interested in your affairs so I ask you to stick your nose out of mine." Isley said, then turning his attention upon the two men of the organisation nearby:

"You two, come here. I want to speak with you."

Shrugging their shouldes, the men in black made their way over to their dreaded one hundread year old lost experiment. They both knew exactly who this was. Rubel seemed fascinated by the situation, while the shorter man, Orsay, had terror written all over his face.

"Hey! i'm talking to you what do you think you're doing?" Audrey said.

"Let the men talk now. You ladies go gossip about eachother for a while or something."

In a way she found such a response insulting, but at the same time found herself very interested in this man for some reason, and couldnt give in to her frustation. Lowering her blade, Audrey responded: "I'm sorry, but those I don't know simply can't order me around like that. So if you chose to ignore me then I will have no choice but to deem you a threat."

Isley raised a brow at her: "Shouldn't you be defending your base from Luciela? I think in this situation, it is her that is the bigger threat not me."

"Stop changing the subject..."

-"We abandoned the organisation..." Anastasia said, her dreamy gaze focused on this strangely alluring man : "So our top priotity is to protect our comrades...not defend this place anymore..."

"Yeah...we don't care what happens here anymore. We plan to escape with the others as soon as possible...so...are you another ressuected one?" Dietrich added.

Isley chuckled lightly on this, releshing in the fascinating deep stares these women gave him. It had been such a long time since he had been surrounded by so many women like this after all, and ultimatelly was not prepared for it.

"I won't ask again. Who are you?" Audrey warned.

"Fine you got me," Isley sighed: "My name's Isley if you must know, and yes i'm probably what you think i am. Can't really say it's a pleasure to meet you i'm afraid, no offence. Also, i'm not much into formalities so you must forgive my rudeness."

The group of warriors meerly stared at him in complete awe. Most jumped in response to this, a most chilling fear sliverying thought their spine at what they heard. None of them ever imagined that yet another one of the abyssals would make their presense known in this place.

"So then...you are the third of the abyssal ones..." Audrey said cautiously, resisting her body's urge to taking a step backwards in response to the giant yoki he had encaseed all along: "You must be Isley then... the most powerful of the first male generation..."

"This wouldn't be your best day now would it? To have two of us in your base at the same time must be pretty intimidating." Isley said.

"You...must want to go to the mainland...that's why your here..." Audrey said.

Suddenly looking greatly interested in what she had to say, Isley responded curiously: "What do you know of it?"

"Why would someone like you want to go there...how do you even know of such a place?"

"Like I said, it's all because of this annoying woman I met recently. She's responsible for all this pretty much."

"Who is this annoying woman?" Audrey said, raising a brow.

"That one," He said, taking a moment to point towads the direction of a fight between two familiar individuals.

Audrey couldn't beleive she only noticed this now. A little distance away from her, Where Isley pointed to, Roxanne was in combat with someone who she swore looked like Galatea, and next to her, a child warrior, most probably Miata. The three of them seemed completely lost in a frenzied battle, and because it included Roxanne, it was a battle that was no doubt to the death.

"Just what are those two doing here?" Audrey said in bewilderment.

"Oh so you know them? how interesting. That woman Galatea also told me that one of you guys are with the group of rebels she's assosiated with. I suppose that must be you then." Isley said.

"I am, and what is it to you?" Audrey asked.

"I just so happen to be interested in finding a few of your members."

"How would anyone of them know somebody like you...unless perhaps...Priscilla."

"Oh yes that's one of them." he said.

"So the other must be Raki then..."

"Yes that's right, do you know him?"

"Ofcourse...he's the reason I became a rebel in the first place..."

Isley closely scrutinised the strange look he could see in this woman's eyes, then quickly smiled mischievously as he saw to the truth.

"So then you must be his woman then..."

"His woman..." Audrey said, finding herself blushing slightly at the scrutinising gazes her friends gave her.

"Oh so then you are not?"

"Hey...that's not any of your business...really... that's besides the point..."

Staring into her clearly flushed face, Isley grinned: "I can see why Raki fancies you...I suspected he may be the type with the weakness for the real pretty ones. How typical. Very similar to me when I was his age, so I suppose i understand. But I don't imagine somebody like Raki would allow a single member of his rebellion to leave alone, so then, you must have left the group without him knowing. But why would you do such a thing? was it to protect him or something foolish like that? is that why you're alone here?"

Audrey froze for a full few seconds yet again. This man was very good at reading her it seemed. Everything he had just said was the solid truth, and this sudden exposure she felt from this man was something she truly didn't feel comfortable with. In a way she knew his question was legitimate, and suddenly felt naive and very foolish like he had mentioned.

"Let's just cut to the chase. You help all of my comrades escape and i'll lead you to the secret docks that leaves for the mainland. Do we have a deal?"

-"Wait! Audrey can we trust him? Perhaps we should just leave him alone for now..." Anastasia said.

-"Yeah, comon Audrey, we shouldn't even be talking to the likes of him..." Rachel said.

Ignoring her comrades, the former number three waiting patiently for his response, and almost like a gentlemen, she got her response.

:"So then... if you trully are Raki's woman then I suppose I should return you to him unharmed." he said, implying a facepalm before adding: "... What a bother of a situation this is...You women always manage to complicate everything..."

"I suppose you'll just have to deal with it. And i'm not leaving without the others either." Audrey said stubbornly.

"You know, just because you know Raki doesn't mean i'm obligued to help you. There are plenty of women out there, he can always find another." he said.

Audrey merely smiled gently at this: "He could...but my heart will always belong to him...that will never change."

As he watched this woman before him, Isley felt a very strangely warm feeling hidden in her eyes. Though his humanity was long since gone, there was still an essense left in him which understood how she no doubt must have felt, no matter how foolish he thought of it now.

"If I can say something here," Rubel objected from out of the blue: "If you want to go to the mainand, you need somebody like me to get you through safely. Somebody like you Isley would immediatelly be hunted down upon arrival no matter how well you supress your yoki. They don't welcome awakened ones in that place. You need to supress your yoki down to undetectable levels, and i can help you do that."

Isley listen closely to this man with a brow raised. He looked over at a terrified Orsay for a moment, smiled charmindly then set his sight back upon Rubel. Of course he didn't trust either of them, but knew they were more useful to him alive than dead.

Rubel then set his sight upon Audrey as he added:

"Besides, if you want to know more about that man and his recent transformation you need to keep me alive for that."

"Transfrmation?" Isley said, dumfounded.

"We can talk later about everything. Right now is not the best time," she said, turning to the intrigued abbysal one: "So are you going to help me or not Abyssal one Isley?"

_What is it with these stubborn female warriors nowdays?_

_Prancing around as if they know everything..._

_Times really have changed..._

* * *

Galatea's blade swooped across the air in a side slice, with Roxanne responding with a clever duck while at the same time blocking the thrust of Blade Miata threw at her from the side. Recovering quickly, the single digit retaliated with her own offensive, her impressive movements making her able to keep up against her two surprisingly coordinated opponents. As skilled as she was though, fighting two opponents at the same time was incredibly challenging for any warrior, especially againstn two rather impressive former single digits.

"Two against one is awfully unfair don't you think?" Roxanne said as she danced through the deathly blades that threatened to slice her to pieces.

"A single digit like you complaining about such things like that...I thought you three must have been legendary or or something like that." Galatea said.

"Hey you're not the one being attacked by two opponents at once here, so give me a break! besides that's no ordinary child, that one is a prodigy of some sort no doubt."

Seeing her opportunity, Roxanne cleverly spun around and managed to plow her elbow against Miata, sending her crashing into the nearest rubble of a collapsed structure nearby.

"Miata!" Galatea yelled.

Roxanne grimmaced at this: "You should worry a little less about her and concentrate more on yourself...Because you are blind, it's fair to say that the only way you can see me is by reading my flow of yoki is that correct?"

"Perhaps." Galatea said, not knowing where Roxanne was going with this.

"I wonder what will you do if this was suddenly to disappear as well? then you would simply fall into darkness and be truly blind."

Before Galatea could respond, she was left in trepidation when Roxanne's aura suddenly disappeared entirely. In response to this, she threw herself away from the battle in a quick panic, but not before Roxanne's blade scraped the surface of her torso, inflicting a troubling, but not life threatening injury across her. Though the the pain was intense, she just so happened to be a defensive type warrior, and such wounds were't enough to slow her down for long.

Noticing the blood emerging from her opponents body, an excited Roxanne stopped her attacks and merely watched on as a river of blood flowed below into the blood-red sand.

"So how is it like to fight now that you're truly blinded? I bet it must be quite frightening..." Roxanne said through the blackness.

Galatea groaned in annoyance. This new trick Roxanne used was now that dreaded worst case scenario. Even since her eyes stopped functioning around seven years ago, Galatea's mind had compensated by relying heavily on the sense of yoki instead. But now that she lost even this most precious of senses, her mind slipped into a chilling silence it had never experience before. Her only vision, those brilliant array of light orbs of yoki energy that made up her opponent's body, had suddenly vanished into the darkness, as her sense of vision has all those years ago.

Galatea thought she knew what it was like to be blind, but it was only now that she understood the meaning of the word. For the first time in her life she felt as if she was completely shrouded in darkness, completely isolated from the outside world and that scared her to the core.

"You were lucky there, if that was just an inch further, your spine would have been hit. Not even people like us can survive from such wounds." Roxanne's chilling voice said through the abys.

_Impossible...that she is able to hide her aura from me at this range..._

_Is she simply that good at supressing her aura?_

_I didn't think such things were possible..._

_Such things shouldn't be possible..._

"Are you impressed? "I can synchronize my yoki to that of my opponents, making myself completely invisible to a single target. It's too bad you already seem to have lost your central vision as well. It must be most challenging to continue on now, if not completely impossible may I say."

_is this a sick joke?_

_Now what a i supposed to do exactly?_

_This...is this the true power of a first ranking warrior? just what have i got myself into?_

"Hello? don't tell me you can't hear me either. I don't think i hit you in the head any time during one of our exchanges, so it can't be my fault."

"I can hear you very well." Galatea said.

"Oh ok i was just worried I may have done something."

Galatea smiled softly: "My intentions are still to kill you any chance I get so I suggest you do the same."

"You speak so tough yet you can't see me anymore remember? You can't see me, and you can't sense my yoki either. Your now blinded quite literally I suppose, and the smart thing to do would be to beg for your life. Who knows, you just might strike my fancy."

"I'm sorry to disappoint, but I will not stop until my blade removes your neck. I can't afford to lose here to you." Galatea replied stubbonly.

" Most would have broken by this point, but you seem determined to continue on. Odd. To see that you're still determined to fight on must a testament of...sheer willpower... that's just so adorable..." Roxanne said, her boots trotting in the sands as she circled her confused opponent like a carnivoros animal to its prey.

_I can still hear the sound of her boots as she walks in the sand..._

_Perhaps I can hit her from this close range._

_This is do or die..._

_I pray that this works..._

Taking in one last breath, Galatea cleared her mind totally of anything else except for the location of her opponent, and after taking a moment to visualise her actions, she suddenly tensed her sword arm and threw her blade as fast as she could towards her opponent.

In reaction this, Roxxane instinctively threw herself off to the side, dodging the appendage and watched as it got stuck against the side of a nearby building behind her. She grinned wildly when it seemed Galatea had missed her, but quickly knew something was wrong a second later. Feeling the stinging sensation of pain, she inspected her body and noticed that the blade had managed to pass cleanly through her right side, the wound crippling use of much of that part of her body. A steady stream of blood flowed downwards, and for a second time couldn't beieve what she saw. The nature of this blood was very odd indeed.

_My blood...why is it blue?_

_I know i've been ressurected..._

_and I know i'm not awakened._

_Or am I?_

Given up thinking on it, Roxanne merely sniffed this off, and concentrated her opponent yet she was now weaponess, The blind warrior meerely stood with a confident grin, seemingly unphased by her grave situation.

_Just why is she smiling?_

_She must know she didn't kill me..._

_What a fool..._

Noticing the sparkle of what looked like a tip of a blade race for her, Roxanne managed to evade a strike from a maddened Miata that seemed to come out of nowhere. Though her right arm was unusable, Roxanne was very used to fighting with her left, and had no problems with defending herself even in such a ciritcal situation and againt such a maddenned opponent.

"Be carefull there, those are adult levels of yoki you're releasing..." Roxanne warned, managing to defend herself quite comftorbably against her suprisingly skilled opponent.

"I don't like you!" Miata screamed, throwing an uppercut that took her opponent by suprise. The blade connected against Roxanne's chest, and splash of blue blood sprayed outwards of the wound:

"OUCH! hey that realy hurt you little!-"

"Musn't forgive someone who bullies my friend!"

"No! you have it all wrong! us adults were merely training against eachother! So please stop attacking me!" Roxanne screeched.

"Lying! Lying!"

"Oh you aren't as stupid as you seem." Roxanne said, looking quite dissapointed her opponent was not fooled by her act: "Children aren't usually fun to fight but you're a little different aren't you? If you were a little older who knows how impressive you'll become..."

Miata spared a curious glance upon Roxanne, her attacks stopping only for a brief moment as she contemplated those words that felt strangely familiar to her. They were words she was long used to, words of praise the the men of the organisation would always shove down her throat but had ignored them for most of her life.

Ever since her parents were killed by a yoma, the haunting imagery and smell of blood did not leave her fragile mind. In a single act of violence, her caretakers, protectors, and the ones she loved most of all suddenly vanished from existence by an enemy who she did not even understand at the time, and still doesn't to this day.

When she was taken in by the organisation, the intense pain and horror of the tranformation process broke her further, and thus slipped into a delusional state of mind ever since. She didn't know where she was taken, or even for what purpose, but simply refused to do anything they told of her. She didn't care about this place or anybody else, and stubbornly refused to be disciplined in any way. Due to this instability, and the delusional hatred of the unknown, Incarscaration was the existence she had become used to, rarely having visits from anybody from the outside.

During these rare times, the men would attempt to calm her down but she responded by lashing out at them like a crazed animal. A few times she was forced to spar against a fellow high ranking warrior, and not once had she ever lost against any challenger they threw at her. Very quickly she rose to the rank of number four, and by then she heard whispers from the men saying that she was special, and deep down she knew they were right. There was a lot of power running through her veins, but it was a power she simply didn't understand, could not understand. It could not bring her family back, and thus didn't care much about it in the end.

"Hey now don't doze off there. Paying attention in battle is very important don't you forget that. I could have taken advantage of such a situation, you should be carefull." Roxxane smeared.

Miata grunted in annoyance, and proceeded with her frienzied attacks, something which Roxanne meerly smiled hysterically at in response.

"You have so much natural talent, but it's too bad your opponent is somebody like me...you would have made a fine first ranking warrior..."

Awestruck at the amazing technique of this juveline, Roxanne quickly found herself grinding her teeth in frustration when she noticed she had actually been forced to seriously for the first time since Rafaela. Though she was now wounded, it wasan absurd thought that such a dissadvantage would amount to anything in the end against such an opponent, but it seems she was wrong.

_Woah seriously? this child...no kidding...this is the real deal..._

_To be so young and so powerful at such an age._

_A true prodogy this one. _

_But it's too bad i don't particlarily like children..._

In a quick sideways slash, Roxanne's blade swooped past her opponent, inflicted a deep wound upon her young body. The child staggered away momentarily, her off hand attending to the wound infliced deeply upon her left side.

"Mama...I won't let you hurt her or my friends..." Miata whimered, though falling to a single knee due to the near critical wound inflicted upon her.

Roxanne smirked proudly: "As strong as you are, in the end, your just a little girl. If you faced me a few years down the road, i'm not going to lie, you'd probably win, but lucky for me thats not the case. As it stands now, i'm simply superior to you and as a result you will die right here and now. Roxanne sneared.

Roxanne could already feel that her own wound she had recieved from Galatea was almost done regenerating, and any dissadvantage she had would soon dissapear entirely. This child was a powerful advesary indeed, but posed no real threat in the end afterall.

She looked over to her side and was suprised to notice Cassandra making her way over to her direction with a claymore held steadily in her dominant left hand. She wasn't sure exactly what was on Cassandra's mind, or even just how much she remembered about her past, but she couldn't wait to find out.

Both Miata and Galatea quickly noticed this newcomer as well, and the four of them commenced at a breif staredown, both sides unsure of what the other was thinking.

"You...must be another ressurected one," Cassandra said softly, then giving a strange look at Roxanne sensing a strange familiarity in her eyes: "Wait...Do i know you?"

Roxanne's eyes widened from sheer excitement. She could barely beleive what's happening. The sheer irony was simply astonishing, and she loved every second of it.

"Oh Cassandra dear how could you forget me? I thought we had something special you and me. I guess i was wrong there."

"You know my name...but I'm sorry...I don't really remember anything..."

"Really? you're appologazing to me? that's rich." She pased giving her a cynical glare: "that's so cute but at the same time so pathetic... you're so pathetic dear Cassandra..."

"Huh? what do you mean..." Cassandra said timidly. She didn't understand what this strange person meant by that.

Roxanne grinned sharply: "Oh never mind. Forget I said anything at all. My name's Roxanne, and we're from the same Era you and I. Don't tell me you forgot? I was your first remember?"

Cassandra listened on in bewildermend. She wasn't sure what to think about such a statement, but that name intrigued her greatly, and she didn't know why. Now that she could put a name to the face, she suddenly felt a strange feeling in her body. it was almost as if every cell in her body begged to tell her something, but she simply did not understand what they were trying to say.

"Roxanne..."

"Oh are you starting to remember something?" The maddended warrior said excitedly.

"Roxanne...you..."

Cassandra continued to scrutinise this warrior with her intense stare, hoping to unlock the memories that were no doubt housed deep within of her, but as hard as she tried it was all still one giant blur at this stage. Something was telling her that these forgotten memories she longed for were of great importance though, but something was telling her she would find more pain that she would be comfortable with.

Looking past Roxanne, she then set her sight upon the so called intruders. There were three of them all in all. One of them was that warrior Rafaela who was now critically wounded and laying helplessly against the dirt, another meerly a child and the third a completely blind warrior.

Retrurning her aattention back upon Roxanne, Cassandra sneared: "I don't know how you defeated that one...Rafaela...but I find it suprising you get wounded to this extent against a mere child and a blind warrior? and you call yourself a number one?"

Roxanne shot her a dirty look: "Easy for you to say that!, but I don't like to get my face dirty."

Cassandra knew what this warrior meant that as an insult, and due to this, she didn't know how to respond. She was left at a dissadvantage and simply couldnt remember her relation to this warrior called Roxanne. Was she a friend or foe? a friend or lover?"

Distracted by the arrival of a small group of warriors, Roxanne and those around her quickly set their sights to meet the arrivees, and were suprised to see a bunch of young trainees standing before them timidly. The many faces of the young warriors gave nervous looks upon the powerful that stood before them.

"What are you guys doing exactly?" Roxanne said curiously to them.

-"The awakened one is coming this way!" one of trainees said.

-" there's talk about a rebellion! are you guys here to protect us?" another said.

-"I don't want to die!"

"...Are you guys rebels? tell me the truth now." Roxanne asked curiously.

The group was unsure what to think, giving this strange warrior stares of uncertainty. However,one of the braver ones responded soundly:

"Yes...i suppose...we don't want to go back to the men of the organisation. We'd rather join the rebellion and leave this awful place."

Roxanne then turned to face Cassandra, and the look she gave sent chills down Cassandra's spine. Something was telling her something very bad was going to happen at this moment.

Roxanne raised her blade at the small group, and with a sadistic smile, she grinned cunningly:

"If you guys are rebels then I have no choice but to carry on the organisation's rules...and considering how powerful children seem nowdays, perhaps some of you may even force me to get serious."

Cassandra shot an alarming stare at this crazy warrior. Was she going to do what her gut feared?

_No way! Surely Roxanne isn't thinking to cut all these trainees down..._

_Just what kind of warrior wants to kill mere trainees?_

_surely such things are beyond even our kind..._

To her horror, Roxanne sudenly raised her blade and charged for the nearest warrior Mercilessly. Without any warning, she struck down the nearest trainee, causing the rest of them backing off hysterically in panic. Torn by this sickenning act, Cassandra prepared to come to their defence, but hesitated in the last moment. Roxanne was dispicable indeed , but as much as she didn't like it, her actions were justified by the rules of the organisation. And those were the rules she swore her service to.

A moment later, another was cut down in an instant, and very quickly the full seriousness of the situation had suddenly set in. When the third one threatened, Miata flooded to their defence, but quickly found herself victim of her own fatigue, and recieved a humiliating knee to the face instead. Roxanne's superor experience began to show, and her movements, though rivaled closely, were at a level the young warrior simply couldn't keep up with, and suffered cut after cut to her body across her young body.

Watching on, Cassandra turned over to her side and noticed the blind one approaching closely, then collasping to her knees entirely. The wound across her chest still hadn't healed entirely, and was in no condition for anything at all let alone a fight, no matter how much she may have wanted to.

"Hey you! Why don't you stop her! they are mere innocent children! Surely their lives must mean something to you!" Galatea roared.

"They may be children, but it is none of my concern. I'm not even from this time. I am merely a ghost of a warrior warrior for the organisation."

"How can you say that!"

Infliing yet another wound upon Miata, Roxanne's chuckled hysterically as she parried attacks from two other trainees behind herself, their attacks hoplessly outranked in every way. Miata tried to come to their defence the moment Roxanne went for the killing blow, but recieved a blow to the gut instead, and was kicked out of the battle like a ragdoll not long later.

"You are trully dispicable!" Galatea roared to Cassandra, while desperately trying to get to her feet.

"It may be from your prespective now, but the fact is that you would have probably done the same if you were in my position." Cassandra said.

Galatea grunted in annoyance. She knew Cassandra may have been right. Seven years ago during her prime as number three, her loyalty to the organisation was absolute, just it had been taught to her kind for a very long time. She feared that if she were in Cassandra's situation, she may have done the same thing. She was a very differnet person back then.

She focused her attention on the nearby Miaita, t he child was reduced to a crawl nearby, and though she was wounded, the sheer fustration apparant on the childs face was something that deeply struck her. Her young eyes drenched in a deep hellish yellow and thick veins lined the surface of her skin. She was close to awakening, and Galatea simply had to do something about it if she wanted to stop it frm happening, even if it meant her own humanity would be threatened.

"If you don't protect them then I will..." Galatea said.

"What are you doing? you cannot protect them if you awaken." Cassandra said in complete awe, looking on concernly at Galatea's energy release.

"I will probably awaken you are right. But there is a small chance I can stop halfway and avoid a full awakening. I've seen it done before... but if I fail and fully awaken please end my life as quickly as you can."

"Stop half way? What exactly do you mean by that?" Cassandra said in complete awe, unsure what she just heard.

"I also ask that you pray for me..."

"Wha-"

Before she could respond, the blind one's yoki suddenly shot to critical levels that threatened awakening entirely. Galatea's body bulged ever so slightly, with thick veins across the side of her arms and her eyes turning into a the deepest of yellows. Though this was always something she dispised doing, Cassandra nevertheless readied her blade against this new monstrocity that was no doubt about to be born before her.

But instead of that happening, something else happened instead, something Cassandra thought to be impossible. Just as Galatea's body was in the process of awakening, the yoki suddenly stabalized, and sheamazingly reutned back to normal. There were no physical changes to her body, but her aura no longer felt like an ordinary warrior either. It was truly something inbetween an awakened and claymore, a hrybid between the two extremes.

With her transformation halted, Galatea was left astonished when she found herself blinded by a brilliant light for the first time in seven years. Rubbing the area of her eyes, she quickly noticed the wounds across them have maraculously healed, the dark outlines of her own fingers shielding her eyes from the blinding light. She looked around her for the for the first time in seven years, the bluriness of the world rapidly sharpening to reveal the world she had thought she'd never see ever again in this life.

"I...don't beleive it... The light...has returned to my eyes..." Galatea said in complete astnishment, looking at her own familair, yet now foreign looking hands.

"How is that possible?...I could have sworn you should have awakened..." Cassandra said.

"It's called a half awakening. I don't know too much about it either but I thought i'd try it. It appears to have worked, so, now excuse me."

Before Cassandra's eyes, the former blinded warrior raced towards a seemingly unsuspecting Roxanne, attempting to end it as soon as possible with a strike to the back.

Roxanne threw her blade behind herself to deflect the attack and she spoke in astonishment: "Hey! that's not funny! i could have sworn you were about to awaken...and your eyes...your eyes were damaged permanantly! but now they are healed? are you playing games with me or something?"

"For somebody so dispicable...I never imagined you'd look like that..." Galatea said, memorising every possible detail she could against her opponent: "And just why do you wear those riddiculous heels...".

"Oh so you're a little better than before... That's odd...and you're not awakened but it sure feels like you have..."

Galatea was awestruck that despite her rejuvnated body, Roxanne still managed to outmanouvered her with a clever flurry of movements, appearing down low from her side and managed a convincing slash acoss her. Blood gushed out from her new body, and she found it regretfull that the sensation of pain was still the same as before. Though she was now half awakened, it seemed Roxanne was still at the advantage overall, as regretful as that was. That much was painfully clear to her.

"Do not forget the difference between us. You are no first ranking warrior. You cannot defeat me, even if you awaken." Roxanne said, watching as the surviving few trainees scatttered about :"But it's so cute that you wanted to protect these little ones from me. I don't know how you came back from your wounds but i'm fascinated too be honest. You somehow stopped the awakening process and harnessed its power..."

"I don't care what the odds are. You are beyond dispicable...lower than that of a yoma and I will kill you!"

"Hey you are really being rude here! Who made you queen of morality? they are rebels, and its my duty to silence them, and it just so happens I like doing so. I'm not on your side exactly remember?"

Galatea froze for a moment, disgusted with what she heard, and unsure whether to take it seriously or not. At this moment, she questioned her opponent's, as well as her very own sanity, and one thing she was sure of. Both sides saw the other as the crazy one.

"Besides, you've become most amusing to me and it seems i've grown to fancy you a little," Roxanne said playfully: "So if you be a good girl and submit yourself to me right now and kiss my boots i just might spare your life."

Galatea smirked at this: "The only thing I fancy right now s your blood smeared across my blade and your head rolling across the sand beneath my feet..."

Roxanne raised a brow in annoyance: "You know, i'm really giving you a chance here but I suppose people like you can't be reasoned with. I mean, if I wanted to I could throw you to the ground, and pluck out those brand new eyes of yours. But lucky for you that's not something I usually do. I'm more forgiving than you may think."

"Just because you're a former number one that doesn't mean anything. For all I know, you could have played the game dirty and simply advanced to the top through lies and deciet. You strike me as that kind."

"Do I now?"

"Yes you do."

"The game is not meant to be played fair anyway you idiot. It's all about yourself. There's no time to think about anything else, and the moment you do, you die. That is a simple fact." Roxanne said.

"I feel sorry for you. You who trully possesses no soul..."

"You beleive in such nonesnse and superstition? I thought such things were beyond us..."

As their exhange continued on, Galatea quickly found herself overwhealmed by Roxanne's cealrly superior movements. She struggled to avoid a few key strikes from managing concincing cuts across her body, with each each one deeper than the last. In response to this, she released most of her yoki to change this balance of power, and thus managed to force her opponent to retreat only for a brief moment.

Distracted by the sudden sound of a building crumbling nearby, a blanked of sand and other bits of debris flew by them. The two warriors shielded their eyes, and the group watched on instensly as the third of the ressurected ones, the one with amazing agility, suddenly appeared before them through the chocking dustcloud around them. Landing soundly near them, Hysteria's feet touched down gently against the softended sand. Her clothing and armor was littered with dirt and various other marks, alongside many small cuts across the fabric of her battlesuit. Her hair, was left in a similar fashion, covered in dust, with a single braid smudged in a drape of illuminating blue blood. Due to these alments, Hysteria didn't seem pleased in the slightest, and her once gentle face showed this clearly.

"What...are you looking at?" Hysteria snapped angrily at the group.

"Oh Nothing really. But you have a little bit of dirt, well, everywhere. It doesn't do you any favours by the way." Roxanne teased.

Hysteria gave her a rude stare before responding: "I suppose you and that other one must be ressurected as well. Former first ranking warriors like myself. Is that correct?"

"That's right, and just who are you? are you Teresa?" Roxanne said.

Hysteria's eyes widened at the sound of that. She suddenly became very interested in this short converstation.

"Hysteria's my name. But I also seek one called Teresa."

"Roxanne of Love and Hate is my title," Roxanne said, then pointing over to Cassandra as she added: "and that over there is Dust Eater Cassandra."

"Dust...Eater? Such an unfortunate title..." Hysteria sneered.

Cassandra stared annoyingly at Roxanne, but before she could respond, Galatea intervened:

"Why do you all seek for one called Teresa...just how is it possible you even know of somebody of that name...

"We don't really know... " Cassandra said.

"I suppose she's the answer to our ressurection. Perhaps if we kill her some memory will be unlocked. Who knows?" Roxanne said.

"Teresa is not someone anyone of you can defeat yourselves..." Galatea said.

"Well, all three of us are so called Legendary first ranking warriors," Roxanne said, placing a single arm on one of her hips: "Out of countless others that could have been chosen the honor was given to us, so I suppose that should count for something. "

Just as Roxanne finnished, the already half collapsed building from earlier demolished further, and Luciela emerged through the wreckage. Much of her awakened body was covered in small bite marks, and countless scrapes from Hysteria's blade focused around the side of her face. All the abyssal feeders appeared to have been destroyed as well, and her sense of sight fully restored as well.

Luciela staunched the group before her, approaching slowly as she layed paw after paw in the reddenned sand beneath her. She walked over various large splinters and stone bolders scattered around the now ruins of the organisation, sizing up each one of her opponents closely.

The abyssal one moved one of her tails closer to herself, and the others watched as she reverted back to her humanoid form. When the transformation was complete, the now humanoid Luciela grabbed her dress that hanged against the tail and quickly slipped it over herself. She hurried over to the direction of Rafaela, kneeling down to attend to her wounded sister with a look of worry planted across her face.

"Rafaela! Just what happened to you! Why did you let them so such a thing to you?" Luciela said, embracing her downed sister with the begginnings of tears running down the side of her face.

"Sister...you're wounded so...forget about me...just get out of here while you still can..." Rafaela said in her sister's arms.

"No way! i'll kill them...i'll kill them all for us both!" Luciela roared, quickly getting to her feet and picking up Rafaela's claymore that lay nearby in the dirt confidently.

"Luciela! you cannot defeat them in that form and you know it! "

Ignoring the pleas of her sister, Luciela Raised her blade at the three opponents before her, then from under her dress, two snake-like tails slithered upwards, surrounding her like tails from a scorpion, ready to punce at any moment.

Galatea simply couldn't beleive the sudden turn of events that had just happened. Handling a single first ranking warrior was a challenge that already proved too difficult for herself and Miata, but having four of them together was just simply ridiculous. There wasn't much she could do, and knew that if she wished to survive this, both her and Miata would have to step back for a moment and let this situation unfold by itself. The battle of the generations was about to begin, and she sure as hell didn't want to get involved in something like this.

"I'm not sure which one of you did this to my sister, but i'm done playing around now... I'll crush all three of you the old fashioned way..." Luciela said.

"But those gross tails of yours...Wouldn't it be cheating if you use them?" Roxanne snobbed.

"Oh do you think they are gross? That's funny because I think of them quite the opposite actually. I simply love the way they move at my command so obediedntly...devouring all that is in my way...a far more efficient way to get things done."

"So then this is quite interesting is it not?" Roxanne said, placing a single hand casually across her waist as she eyed the others around her: " To think that four former first ranking warriors of different generations would all meet like this, quite spectacular really."

"This situation is hopelessly boring." Hysteria said, sizing the others up around her: "I do hope we can resolve this rather quickly and not allow things to drag on..."

"Oh so you have something else to do? What, do you want to have a bath and wash that dirty hair or something?" Roxanne teased.

Hyteria shot back: "Do you have something against baths?"

"No ofcourse not, I love baths, who doesnt?" Roxanne said, then turning over to Cassadra and adding: "Don't you Cassandra?"

"I suppose..." the other warrior replied softly.

"Oh that's right, ofcourse you'd like baths. I bet if you could you'd, have a bath after every battle huh? Don't want that dust lingering around now do we?"

"What are you talking about..."

"You know, that awful fighting style makes it look like you lust for sand."

Cassandra turned her face shamefully off to the side, unsure whether Roxanne's was just playfully teasing her, or if there was something venomous behind that smile of hers. Something deep down was telling her it was probably a little bit of both in the end.

Galatea looked to her side and made her way towards an injured Miata. After helping the little girl to her feet, a sudden sensation could be felt in the back of her mind. Feeling the presence of somebody very familiar nearby, she turned around and set her reborn eyes upon a striking man surrounded by various other warriors of the organisation with Audrey in the clear lead.

"Galatea! is everything alright? are you wounded?" Audrey said.

"I'm alright..." she said.

Galatea set her sight upon the familiar man with the long silvery hair. She smiled warmly at his suprisnigly gentle face as she spoke softly: "You know, You're not as scary as I had imagined..."

Isley smiled back at her, finding himself mysteriously lost in her strangely mesmerising eyes: "That's what they all say before they get to know me."


	50. Chapter 50

chapter 50

This chapter has quite a lot of things happening so i hope you guys enjoy it. I tried to keep everyone in character, but as per usual i placed them all in strange and unexpected situations so its difficult to say how they would react.

enjoy.

* * *

Noticing the beginnings of Hysteria's technique, Luciela's body jolted to evade the lightning fast strike the warrior had been famed for. Despite her best efforts however, Hysteria swooped right by her, and managed a clean cut across her right shoulder with her blade. The wound tearing into her soft skin like a fine cut, draining the wound as it bled down her body.

- "Careful there Luciela...It appears she hit you... you may be in trouble there." Isley said from the side, watching like a hawk.

"Isley...good to see you again...though I thought you may have been dead after all this time..." Luciela said, not looking particularly thrilled with the prospect of adding someone the likes of him to her lengthening list of foes.

"What a coincidence, I thought you would be dead by now as well," Isley replied in a sly tone: "But it looks like in your case, cats really just might have nine lives."

Smiling at him maliciously, she responded: "Well you might be on to something there, but first you must tell me...Did you enjoy my beloved land while i was gone... Isley? Did you taint it with your dirty hoovs? You know how I don't like such things..."

"I couldn't help it...It was a good change of weather from the north, and the people were better..." Isley said.

Frustrated at all the fuss around her, Hysteria groaned before throwing Lucilela a furious stare:

"Hey you! Don't you think for a moment this changes anything! We have unfinished business you and I."

"That's right...I almost forgot about you..."

Irritated by her opponents lack of interest in her, Hysteria's tried again with a second elegance attack but was evaded more convincingly as the abyssal anticipated the attack earlier this time and evaded accordingly.

Luciela looked Isley's way: "You know, this one has been quite the pain from the very beginning. Terribly difficult to land a hit on her...you should give it a try."

"It should be a crime to disrupt such an entertaining battle," Isley replied casually: "And 'm not the kind to do such things. But may I ask, did you enjoy those abyssal feeders earlier? they really are a devoted bunch that's for sure, gotta hand it to them for that."

Luciela's face stiffened in disgust: "You must mean...those things earlier...they are the most grotesque and irritating of all things...don't remind me."

Attempting a different strategy, Hystaria suddenly came to a halt before her opponent, and forced her blade for blade in a deadly duel up close and personal. Both were former number one ranked warriors, moving with deadly precision, their weapons dancing between each other in carefully orchestrated blows, with neither looking to land a clean blow.

Hysteria thought she had finally caught Luciela's attention, but groaned in annoyance as the two continued to converse despite this.

-"It's pretty obvious you haven't been keeping up with your swordplay Luciela..." Isley groaned from the side: "Swordplay is like an art and should not be forgotten. I would have thought somebody like you would honor such a thing. I'm a little disappointed."

Evading a low swipe from Hysteria, Luciela responded soundly: "I suppose I must admit I'm not as good as the old days...but after awakening, it never occurred to me to keep up with it...I've simply spoilt myself i'm afraid..."

Hysteria's patience had reached its limit. Channeling her frustration into her blade, she suddenly stepped forward and performed a fatally accurate slash across her opponents abdomen in a mere blink of an eye. Immediately Luciela shot her a furious look, knowing for sure that the time for fun and games was indeed over.

"I don't like being ignored," Hysteria said as fresh blood dripped off the tip of her blade a short ways away: "Best you don't forget that."

* * *

As the exchange between Hysteria and Luciela dragged on , Roxanne glared over towards Galatea and Audrey who now went to assist a limbless Rafaela a short ways away. She thought to herself for a moment, and ultimately decided that this was something she simply could not accept.

Intercepting the surprised warriors, Roxanne peered upon each of them, then stopped directly at Audrey imposingly:

"Hey! Didn't I tell you to wait for me back in that place? So why are you here?"

"You really are crazy if you actually thought i'd wait for you. I'm getting out of here, and i'll assist everyone else out as well. I don't take orders from you." Audrey said.

"Oh you don't? well that's simply unacceptable..." Roxanne said coldly, before turning over to Galatea: "And you... you refuse to listen to me as well. I keep telling you that you can't beat me but you keep trying anywa-"

Roxanne was infuriated when Galatea suddenly cut her off, ignoring her obvious warning and heading over to the limbless Rafaela instead. She watched as Galatea immediately began to assist the decapitated warrior by reaching for the nearest limb and helping her reattach it to begin the regeneration process. Roxanne stomped her boots in frustration as she watched this happening before herself. Rafaela was her prize and she wasn't intent on others meddling with her property.

"Roxanne... we're all on the same side here! do you want to go to the mainland or not?" Audrey said cautiously, hoping to distract Roxanne momentarily.

"Yes but i'm having so much fun so you must understand! I've been dead for a long time and this is like a really good warmup for me and everything. Also, who are you to tell me what to do? You should be the one listening to me." Roxanne sneered.

"We could use somebody like you in the rebellion..." Audrey said though not completely sure why she did so: "You see, our kind are at war with a powerful enemy off in the mainland and it would be a waste for somebody as talented as yourself to be spending your time here among such inferior advisories..."

Roxanne glared at Audrey blankly for a moment, but merely laughed this off a second later: "So you need all the strong ones you can get huh? i suppose that makes sense. All the weaker ones always want the strong ones to fight for them. But why should I care?"

"...Surely there must be something you want?"

"Something I want hmm?" Roxanne said with a playful innocence, thinking to herself for a moment before adding with a plastic smile: "Well, if you can bring me Teresa then i'd consider it."

"Bring you...who?" Audrey said, not entirely sure what she heard. surely Roxanne couldn't mean who she think she did.

"If you can do that within the next five minutes i'll consider joining your cause."

Left dumbfounded, Audrey thought to herself for a moment before anxiously answering: -"Hey! I know a Teresa but she isn't on this island and -"

Ignoring this, Roxxane rolled her eyes over towards Galatea and Rafaela's direction. Just as the first of Rafaela's limbs had begun the process of reattachment, she swooped towards them both, and severed this connection before it could be complete. Galatea watched as the warrior grumbled under her breath as the horror of Roxanne's blade separated the delicate flesh of hers. Until now, she saw her renewed sight as a gift, but watching as the blood sprayed outwards from the wound, she feared that it may just end up be a curse instead.

Finding himself greatly entertained by this mess, Isley simply found a comfortable spot by a broken pillar and casually leant against it watching everything closely from there. Luciela's battle against that tall one was probably the main event, but the mess Galatea had gotten herself in was quite amusing in itself. That woman was so close to helping that limbless warrior regenerate the first of her downed limbs, but was stopped by a seemingly maddened warrior called Roxanne. At this point on he wasn't sure which what was going to happen, but battles such as these are always so amusing and he just couldn't help but observe for now.

Galatea looked down at her limbless comrade, Rafaela with a face of pity. She silently cursed Roxanne under her breath, then raised to stand steadily.

"I will not let you die. Don't worry." she said.

"You are a fool. She will only kill us both..." Rafaela said from below.

Smiling these concerns off, Galatea suddenly sprinting towards Roxanne heavy handed. Roxanne swung to casually defend the attack but was left dumfounded as her sword-arm was involuntarily jerked off to the side, as though somebody has pulled an invisible string on her. With the element of surprise, Galatea slashed cleanly across the front of Roxanne, a large spray of exotic blood jetted outwards in an arc by her connected attack.

Wounded, Roxanne staggered off to the side, pressuring the area of her wound instinctively. She groaned in annoyance as now Audrey hurry over to the downed Rafaela and assist in her recovery instead. Though Roxanne knew her body could regenerate wounds remarkably quickly, she thought it wasn't a smart thing to test this to its limit, and should try a little harder to avoid future wounds.

"Oh my... I completely forgot that you were very good at yoki manipulation...How silly of myself to let my guard down like that...but it seems you have someone else on your side..." Roxanne said, glaring over accusingly at the direction of the number ten Raftella.

Though Galatea had questions of her own to this odd warrior who now seemed to be helping her, her thoughts were distrusted by the sound of clapping off to the side.

Knowing it was Isley, she asked him irritably "Does something amuse you?"

-"Oh yes. In fact, you amuse me to no end. I don't know how you did it, but it seems that somehow you've awakened, but at the same time you didn't... Most fascinating..."

Galatea smiled tenderly : "Don't get too excited...I'm technically halfway there only."

"only halfway awakened huh? I've always suspected such a phenomenon..."

Watching as the first of Rafaela's leg had finished regenerating, Roxanne raised herself to her feet and spared a glance over at Galatea, then smirked over at Isley with a maddened look. She wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but she had her suspicions.

"Oh I get it. So she must be your play thing or something...what a pity it seems you've already claimed her...so i suppose you'll stop me if I tried to kill her. "Roxanne smiled delightfully.

Isley merely laughed this off as he replied: "actually you've got it all wrong. I don't really care what happens to anyone here really."

Before he could even react however, Roxanne sprinted towards Galatea with her blade propelled forward, piercing the warrior cleanly through her abdomen, pinning her against the side of a ruined building with punishing force. He watched with a strange concern as Galatea groaned in pain from the steel that pierced her still very human looking flesh.

Holding the blade that pierced her, Roxanne smirked cunningly over at Isley:

"Still don't care huh?"

Isley couldn't respond to her for a moment, instead, he found himself lost in thought as he watched this delicate angel in agony before him. That gentle, serene face of Galatea he had admired for so long was now twisted with an unfitting pain, and her long beautiful hair no longer as it was stained blood and dirt. Though he couldn't properly explain it, he couldn't bare see such a sadness on her face, It brought a much greater one to his heart.

Roxanne giggled to herself as she watched this man lost in thought. She had her suspicions about what he was thinking.

_So even awakened beings are able to feel such emotion..._

_Who would have thought?_

_This is..._

_This.._

_Is..._

_Just Perfect!_

-"stop this Roxanne! Killing her won't achieve anything! In fact, you could probably learn a lot from her so it's in your best interest to keep her alive!" Audrey yelled.

"I know that, but I already gave this one many chances so I'm simply playing around here...so just go away...otherwise you're next."

Drawing her blade, Audrey moved towards Roxanne, their gazes furiously locked upon the other despite the obvious difference in power. Behind her, Anastasia, Dietrich, Nina and Rachel followed closely behind ready to stand up against this abusive warrior they all shared a common loath for.

"all of you together?Is this some sort of a protest?" Roxanne said with a delightful smirk.

"You can't take us all on at once Roxanne...give it up." Audrey said.

"Say, is that a challenge?"

"No that was a statement. So I suggest you lower your weapon and agree to a temporary truce or we'll kill you where you stand." Audrey snapped angrily.

After thinking on this for a moment, Roxanne pulled her blade out from Galatea's shoulder and listened on delightfully at the gasps of pain from her downed victim that was backed bloodily against a wall.

"Be a little more reasonable here...let me just play a little more..." Roxanne hissed, readying her blade for a second strike: "Besides, this one was prepared to fight to the death so she should receive her punishment..."

Roxanne raised her blade, prepared herself to decapitate her prey when Isley stepped forward:

-"Alright now that's quite enough fun there ladies," he said abruptly: "your gender unfortunately lacks in general logic, and thus you are ruled by your emotions so you guys need somebody like me to run things around here."

He turned over to Roxanne specifically before adding: "especially you. Your a really disturbed one...but I suppose we all have our faults in the end so who am I to judge?."

Roxanne Hissed back at him: "As opposed to your gender that is ruled by your primitive urge to mate all the time with anything that moves. So in the end who is more primitive?"

"I'm not really in the mood for a long discussion," Isley said, his arm morphing into some sort of a weapon that resembled what could only described as an organic bow: "Besides, you flatter yourself too much by saying such things...So please don't speak anymore,"

In the blink of an eye, Isley pulled back the tendent from his fleshy bow and fired a speeding arrow towards Roxanne. Surprisingly, Roxanne threw herself backwards rapidly in response and used the blunt side of her sword as a shield to successfully block the arrow.

Landing a small ways away, Roxanne grabbed the stray arrow: "Hey that was pretty close...if you stood a little closer you may have hit me. Too bad. Now I know your hit range and killing you will only be easier by exploiting this to the full..."

"Your definitely a clever one, I'll give you that," Isley said, then drawing half a dozen arrows and arming them quickly: "but I wonder just how clever you really are..."

"oh wow six at once? Just what am I to do..."

Firing his bow for a second time, Isley was sure such an attack would be successful against such an opponent, but found himself rather surprised yet again as Roxanne skillfully evaded all six speeding projectiles without breaking much of a sweat. Whichever ones she simply could not dodge were altered away by clever movements of her sword, something Audrey quickly took notice of.

Ending her dodging spree, Roxanne's grin widened as she looked back at this male intruder:

"Is there something wrong with your aim? Still can't hit me. "

Isley smiled back boldly at her: "are you sure about that?"

The smile upon Roxanne quickly left her when she noticed a very strange look in Isley's eyes and a strange set of shadows appearing around herself. Before Roxanne could figure out the answer though, she instinctively turned over her shoulder, but had the wind blow from her as something sharp pierced her from behind, passing cleanly through her flesh and pinning her temporally across the ground. The other five arrows landed safely around her as well, though none of them as accurate it seems as the one that priced her..

"Thats very interesting, these arrows can pursue their target even if they miss," Roxanne said as she pulled the rather large appendage out from the earth and her flesh, chucking it off to the side: "It appears there's quite a lot to learn after all. I thought I knew it all, but I guess this world is just full of surprises,"

-"Roxanne...do you need some assistance?" Cassandra said softly from the side.

"I think you know me better than that so just please shut up Cassandra..." Roxanne sighed.

Moving over towards Galatea, Audrey assisted the warrior to her feet, inspecting the wound across her abdomen with a look of concern. Coughing out some blood, Galatea grabbed her fallen weapon and stood strong despite her wounds.

"Galatea your Hurt too..." Audrey said concretely.

"I'm a defensive type so I can regenerate quickly, I'll be alright."

Galatea found herself admiring Isley for a moment, but something off to the side had drawn not just her attention, but the attention of all. They watched as the once limbless warrior stood up and raised herself from the ground, and felt their bones rattle as an impressive surge of yoki rushed from her body.

* * *

Laying on the course dirt, Rafaela groaned as the bone in her right arm had finally finished the painful attachment process. Much of her muscles had also done regenerating, and already she could even feel a sensation across her body. She ordered her freshly attached arm to move, and was delighted to see it had responded just as she had hoped it would. Sitting up, she saw that both her legs had been solidly reattached as well, and knew she could no longer simply lay down like a wounded animal any longer. Getting to her feet, Rafaela headed over to the direction of her fallen blade and picked it up with her single arm.

Walking over to the group, Rafaela stared them all down for a moment before saying:

"This Teresa that everyone speaks of...Surely it cannot be the former number one...Teresa of the faint smile?"

"The one and only, apparently." Galatea said.

Rafaela sighed, and momentarily looked up to admire the endless sky for a moment as she thought deeply at this revelation. In one corner, she felt very serene about the news, but on the other felt a little disturbed by it. Teresa certainly didn't deserve the death she received from Priscilla, but the dead have a right to rest in peace, and it didn't seem right to interfere in this natural process of life and death.

Looking coldly over at roxanne, she said:

"You... I'll deal with you later...but first I have things to do..."

* * *

A shower of blood sprayed in the air as Hysteria's blade cut through the skin of Luciela who simply struggled to react let alone properly evade the menacing technique of hers. As fast as Hysteria's speed bursts were, the abyssal one seemed to have no issues in predicting the aim of her opponents attacks, but simply wasn't quick enough to evade them entirely. With yet another wound upon her, Luciela was forced to use one of her tails as a support for herself and catch her breath as her body collapsed under heavy fatigue more than a few times.

Hysteria smirked arrogantly: "Oh my, you are very good that's for sure. Your natural reflexes are fast enough to avoid my attacks, though barely it seems."

"Weren't you the one who insisted on not talking?" Luciela said back, returning her slithering tails around herself: "Besides, it's only a matter of time before i hit you. Here, let me show you:"

Swooping her massive tail in an arc, Luciela watched on amazingly as Hysteria not only avoided the massive appendage, but surprisingly used it as a foothold to avoid the corresponding one as well. Moving most elegantly through the snakelike movements of her devilish tails, Hysteria then aimed her blade for her opponents back and removed one of the tails with a clean cut.

Annoyed, Luciela brushed her off with a crazed response, sending her tail on a frenzy to take down this lighting fast warrior who simply refused to be caught.

"Damn you and those insane movements! But i'll catch you! and when I do it will be the worst day of your life I guarantee it!" she roared

Ignoring these words, Hysteria rapidly closed in towards her opponent again, but was caught off guard by a rogue blade that threatened to slash her in half. Moving faster than the wind, Hysteria evaded the attack at the last possible moment and distanced herself away from this new intruder that interrupted her battle.

Utterly relieved to see Rafaela standing defensively before her, Luciela's blooded lips widened to a delightful grin as she looked on adoringly at her beloved sister.

-"Rafaela...your alright...I'm so glad. I saw the other ones helping you and I knew you'd be alight! But now that you're here thing will be so much easier and -"

"You should have kept up with your swordsmanship Luciela... Perhaps later I can teach you later how to fight again." Rafaela said.

"hey! I just need some time to remember the old movements. I was ranked higher than you remember?"

Hysteria looked on at the two annoyingly. These constant disruptions lately were honestly getting on her nerves now.

"And just who are you and why are you interrupting?" Hysteria said irritably.

Raising her blade, Rafaela warned: "I am your new opponent, so you will attack me now.".

"Hmm, i'll end you both..."

Utterly lost in what was going on, Cassandra's frustration caught their attention of those around her:

- '"ENOUGH...I've had enough of this!...just what's going on here? Why does that abyssal appear to be on the rebels side? and what's this mainland I hear of? This is no routine situation at all... I wasn't trained to deal with something like this..."

Having such a common interest in the subject, Roxanne and even Hysteria herself couldn't help but all have a look of agreeance. These were questions that were quite valuable to many of them after all.

-"You're right. This is no ordinary situation. In fact its a personal one, " Galatea said, breaking the silence before adding: " The fact is that the organization is too despicable to continue on running, and due to this fact, they left themselves open for rebellious action since the beginning. Now that such an event is taking place, you must make a choice. Will you fight for yourself and your comrades? or will you fight for an organization that has misled you from the very beginning?"

"What you say makes a lot of sense, but... " Cassandra said, though moving cautiously towards Isley with her blade raised towards him: "But what's the deal with that awakened one with you?"

The look on Cassandra's face told Isley that she was indeed serious about a fight, and he found this incredibly fascinating. Even though his body was still far from perfect health, he was a superior creature in the end. In his mind, there was no warrior that could defeat the likes of him, or so he thought.

"You want to fight me? You sure about that? I will kill you if you try."" Isley said with a confident smile.

Cassandra merely stared blankly at him for a moment. She wasn't particularly thrilled to be involved in a serious fight against this awakened being Isley of the south, but if neither of her fellow resurrected ones were willing to act, then she was determined to do so for the sake of the organization.

"So then you are serious...well I'm not in the mood to play here so you'll have to excuse me for this." Isley said.

The others watched on in awe as Isley then shot out an electrifying pulse of yoki energy, the surge causing his body to rapidly morph into the shape a centaur many times larger than his human form. The bone in his left arm had completely rearranged itself internally to create a bow made from his very flesh, His eyes were pupil-less , glowing a shade of ice blue from the centre of his now inhuman looking head laced with large animalistic horns on either side.

Standing well over ten meters tall, Isley stretched his new body casually, trotting his thunderous hooves in the ground beneath him with earth shattering impact. He glanced over at the direction of Galatea for a moment and noticed that unlike many of the others around her, there was no fear in her eyes when she gazed upon him. He smiled at this on the inside, but return his attention to the front a moment later.

Peering at the stoked warriors with his glistening blue eyes, Isley cleared his silence and revealed in a chaotic, ghostly shadow of a voice: "I strongly urge you to reconsider any challenges, but that doesn't mean I don't welcome them."

Peering unseeingly at this enormous being before her, Cassandra nevertheless readied her blade in her dominant left hand and prepared herself for battle. She glared over at Roxanne and Hysteria's direction for a moment, but quickly returned her attention back upon Isley. With a determined look to her she marched up dangerously close to him, her weapon ready to cut down her much larger opponent.

Isley chuckled lightly to himself for a moment, then without any warning, and quicker than most could even see, he drew his giant bow and aimed it directly at an approaching Cassandra.

"Careful there, it's impossible for most to dodge an arrow from ten paces away...and your already at nine." he warned.

Cassandra stalled for a split moment at his words, but continued her advance towards him nonetheless a moment later. Oddly enough for him, she began to move her head from side to side as though stretching her neck before a workout, but this intensified to a very unnatural manner and by this point Isley released his arrow as it thundered towards her.

Almost as though her body was a mirage, Cassandra's instantly threw her body incredibly low and evaded the speeding projectile seamlessly. As though it had passed through a mirage, the arrow slammed heavily into the ground behind, revealing an unharmed Cassandra behind that slivered back upwards.

Isley raised a brow: "A good dodger...weird, but I suppose that works too. But I wonder if you can dodge all of these as well?"

Arming his bow with half a dozen bony arrows, Isley fired again and watched on as Cassandra yet again sped around incredibly and managed to evade every single one of his attacks. A moment later, she did the same for the ones that returned to strike her from behind as they did to Roxanne. Dusting herself off after this ordeal, Cassandra ran her hand through one of the arrows that was slammed deep into the ground next to her, and proceeded to move towards him with great caution.

The moment Isley morphed his bow into what looked like a giant sword, a sudden arrival caught their attention.

-"Hold on there Cassandra - right now he's not an enemy..Best if we keep him alive..." A strange but familiar man said from the side.

Rubel walked casually towards the group with a slightly anxious looking Orsay, and after consulting with his accomplice for a few seconds, he returned his cunning face back upon them:

"Right now all of you are simply too valuable to leave at waste here on this island ," he added, reaching deeply into his pocket and pulling out a bunch of purple pills: "most of you are such glorious creations that deserve the chance at an honest battlefield to test your real worth. These pills can make that happen for some of you gathered here..."

Upon hearing this, faces shot at him accusingly. Both Luciela and Isley seemed fascinated in the subject endlessly, while the other warriors looked worriedly at each other.

"I don't know how this relates to me..." Hysteria said stubbornly.

"It's funny you say that because you and the other two are supposed to awaken at any moment anyway. In technical terms you would be practically classified as semi-awakened corpses." he said.

Noticing the horrific looks they each threw at him, he looked over at the glistening pills in his hands: "These pills can suppress the yoki of an awakened one and return their bodies back to that of a hybrid, but it should also do the same for you three as well seeing as your bodies have similar properties with awakened flesh. So if you don't want to awaken at any moment then I suggest you take them."

"Just what...are you saying? I'm certainly am not awakened!"" Hysteria moaned.

-"I thought the board cut the budget for that project...I'm surprised to see it complete." Isley said.

"Rubel glanced away from a stupefied hysteria and smirked upon the large Isley: "I've always suspected somebody like you would have insiders from within the organization..."

Isley smirked: "I think you are very well aware of the deals you guys have been making with me over the past century... But it seems not all the information I've received was completely accurate..."

"Enough about this insider talk! I'm taking no such piIl I can assure you that!" Luciela cried.

"the mainland doesn't take kindly to awakened ones, so without the pill you will be slaughtered by the guards before you even reach the gates. That would be such a shame because you won't be able to ever see the real enemy your kind has been destined to fight against, the dragonkin. Besides, you guys need me and Orsay to get you behind the walls when we arrive at the facility on the mainland. It's a win win situation for us both."

Hearing this, Luciela crossed her arms in annoyance, while the awakened Isley merely continued to stand in a calm composure. Both, however, we're genuinely fascinated by such a notion, and so were quite a few others around them no doubt.

-"What he says is true...there is a mainland out there which we should all involve ourselves in...not waste our time here..." audrey announced.

She then paused for a moment, glancing over at Galatea with an uneasy look as she added: " I know this Teresa of the Faint Smile you all so desperately seek... and I know where you can find her..." Audrey said, torn with guilt, not knowing whether saying such a thing was wise after all.

Hysteria snapped excitedly to her, seemingly losing interest in her fight in an instant: "Oh really really you can lead me to this Teresa? Oh do so indeed."

Standing defensively beside her sister, Rafaela spoke suspiciously from the other end:

-"What...does Teresa have to do with all this?"

Audrey snapped to this quickly: "i have no idea but when we get to the mainland you can ask her yourself...but that can't happen until we're done killing each other."

Giving Audrey a stubborn look, Hysteria whined: "Alright then, I've decided that you will take me to this mainland. I want to go there now. And I want a separate boat."

"its actually a ship...But there's just one for us all..."

Hysteria moaned when she heard this and quickly peered over at Luciela and Rafaela's direction, then over at Isley chillingly: " i'm not getting on a boat with these filthy awakened ones...if you think id comply with something like that you've got to be kidding yourself."

Frustrated, Rafaela smashed her blade deep into the scorched ground, sending a thundering tremor that cracked earth around the blade. curious stares shot her way, impressed by this rather intimidating feat of strength.

Rafaela watched them back sharply with her single eye, knowing that it was vital to not lose confidence in front of this new crowd. Though she was powerful, she'd rather not have to fight all these warriors and possibly even Isley in a serious fight. Such a fight would force her to her limit no doubt, something she had never done before, and wasn't quite thrilled to explore either.

"I don't know what's going on," Rafaela said to them: " but for now I suggest we all think deeply about what we do next. None of us have any personal quarries with each other, so perhaps we should first figure out who is our enemy and foe before we start anything. If anyone has a problem with this then please make yourself known."

There was a brief silence as everyone contemplated her words, but Isley merely smiled in response: "Indeed, we are creatures of reason after all. Perhaps it's best if we exercise this very humble aspect of our nature and we might eventually get somewhere."

"I suppose we can continue this later on... I so do want to meet this Teresa as well..." Roxanne said.

"So then we just need to gather everyone else including the trainees and move over towards the docks..." Audrey said.

Momentary taken aback by all this, Cassandra found herself sheathing her weapon with a sigh of relief plastered across her sanded face. She looked at all those around her and relished in the look of agreement she could generally see. No doubt such a temporary alliance wouldn't be fated to end smoothly, but it was the most logical decision in the end. A common goal united them all, and they were all determined to meet that which they knew called to them.

* * *

Plunging into the icy cold water that felt like a thousand knives stabbing all over, Clare frantically swam towards the edge of the riverbed and dragged herself up a sharp and rocky shoreline. After all this fighting, her body was now so numb she was unable to feel even the smallest of things such as the cold or even terrible pain that no doubt jolted through her at this moment.

Clare heard the sound of Priscilla emerging out of the water just ahead a moment later, and watched on hungrily as she dragged herself to the other end of the shoreline.

Though they tried to stand, both quickly collapsed to her knees, struggling to catch their breath as nothing but water coughed out from their lungs. Their fight had been long and strenuous, and whatever was left of their stamina before had no doubt been washed away by the chilling touch of the icy cold water of the river.

Clare's traumatized body ached, but she was determined to stand, Determined to win. As though summoning a power deep within herself, She struck her claymore into the ground, and found the strength to raise her weakened body into standing. A rush of adrenalin pumped throughout her as she watched Priscilla somehow manage the same,aching towards an inevitable conclusion.

"Struggling to stand there?" Clare sneered, delighted at her opponents struggle.

"No way, I...refuse to surrender..." Priscilla said with a weakening stare.

"Then raise your blade...Priscilla..."

now that the battle had slowed down, Clare suddenly took notice of something she hadn't noticed before. Only now as the water helped reflect the moons light and illuminate the surroundings, the actual damage upon her opponent became immediately clear. Across Priscilla's body were many small, yet fine cuts, no doubt a product of the awakened quick sword from earlier when she had the strength to wield the form. Until now, she hadn't even noticed them, but wounds such as those would slow down even the strongest of warriors, and Clare was rather impressed that Priscilla managed continue on regardless of this.

Putting these thoughts aside, Clare readied her blade before herself and prepared for the next, and likely last round of their battle. She watched on vampirically as Priscilla's hands shook under the weight of her traumatized body, assuming a shaky, yet prepared stance of attack.

Before they could even engage, however, Clare almost felt disappointed when her opponent's weakened body gave way, falling to a knee in frustration.

"Get up..." Clare said unsympathetically.

"Not like this... I don't want to die like this..."

Watching her opponent struggle in standing upwards, Clare said: "Tell me something Priscilla...On that day, when you killed Teresa... you walked right by me as if I wasn't even there. Why didn't you kill me as well?"

Priscilla's eyes shot open at the very taboo-nature of Clare's question, and suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable about the direction of their conversation. The way Clare stared so scrutinizingly at her made it perfectly clear that she was dead serious with her question, and expected an answer immediately.

"Why do you wish to know such things? You cannot change the past so it's hopeless to look back and ask such things." Priscilla said.

In a quick combination, Clare evaded Priscilla's defenses and landed a powerful kick to her chest, dropping her to the ground. She then slammed her blade in the rocky ground next to Priscilla's head in a threatening manner, staring deeply into her eyes with a look of fury.

"Next one is for real. I won't ask again" Clare warned.

Removing her blade from the the rock it was embedded against, Clare took a step back as she watched her opponent stand upright and dust herself off. Relieved to still be alive, Priscilla dug deeper into her memory than ever before and spoke the words that came to heart.

"I vaguely remember that day..." Priscilla said shakily, eyeing the lining of the blade that was so close to her head earlier: " "Back then, when Teresa died, and amidst all that intense pleasure and pain...I felt like I was reborn. From my point of view, I had defeated my enemy and felt a power I could barely comprehend. I was no longer frightened, confused or worried about anything, and the incredible rush of power felt absolutely incredible."

Clare listen to enemies' words carefully, doing her best to hold back the growing fury that burned within her own mind.

Priscilla added: "but to answer your question...I ignored you simply because you weren't worth my time. Besides, at the time I thought you would kindly embrace death yourself, so I simply left you there to grieve over your friends death..."

Clare tightened the grip on her blade angrily, her frustration clear at what she heard. Hearing something like that was a great insult to her, but at the same time had already known that in the back of her mind. It wasn't anything new to her really.

Both of them were incredibly worn out, but only one of them still possessed the strength to stand upright. Falling for a second time, Priscilla grunted in frustration while Clare merely looked on hawkishly with a maddened Glare:

She Walked up to Priscilla, holding her blade steady in her dominant hand, ready to finnish the fight in cold blood as she stared into her eyes.

"So then...I get no mercy then?" Priscilla said sadly, a forced smile across her features as her weakened grip dropped her weapon.

Clare kicked Priscilla's blade off to the side to remove any shred of doubt of her victory. She wasn't going to risk dying the same way as Teresa, she wasn't going to let something like that happen. If there was one thing from Teresa that she had learned, it was to never assume victory as long as the opponent was still alive.

"It's funny... this is what Ophelia must have meant earlier...but I don't want to die..." Priscilla said, glancing over at direction of her kicked blade: "...I only wanted to be the hero...I wanted to be the strongest so I could protect everyone from the evil in the world...protect everyone from the yoma that had killed my parents ...So I absolutely couldn't stand it that I had lost back then...Teresa was my enemy and i just couldn't stand it that i had lost... "

Clare watched on as Priscilla carried on more and more frantically: "Teresa broke the cardinal rule! and if I was unable to stop her then my life would be worthless!" I was the number two so if I couldn't do it then who could?"

Clare stared oddly at her for a moment, looking as though she was lost in foreign words. She felt incredibly insulted Priscilla just tried to justify her past actions to her, and snapped on the inside as a result.

"How dare you say such things! It is you who made your life worthless! " Clare sneered.

"what are you talking about?"

Sparing her a cold glare, Clare replied: "Teresa spared your pathetic life more than once! and trusted you enough to lower her guard around you! She thought you were decent and honest! But you took her kindness and killed her for it! You must have known you would have awakened in the end...you make me sick."

"At the time...I didn't even know what an awakened one was..." Priscilla said softly, dragging herself against a rocky lining as she said with a faded smile : "Besides, I only just graduated and... I was tasked to kill the warrior I most adored..."

"What...did I just hear?" Clare said, looking genuinely flustered at this strange remark, yet patiently waited for Priscilla to continue regardless.

"There was a man in the organization... A bald man with a black hat if I remember correctly."

"Bold man...with a Black hat? Clare said with a raised brow.

"I was only a trainee, but he picked me out of all the others, and to me, that was the greatest of honors. He said he saw my potential, and had me trained by a secret warrior, one called Rafaela...I was told that I must be prepared to train my hardest if I wanted to rid the world of yoma...Don't you see? I was potentially the strongest one and it was up to me to lead my comrades and everyone against the yoma!" It was you who ruined that for me! Your influence on Teresa forced me to kill my most cherished of idols!"

Clare was utterly disgusted at what she heard. It was still difficult to get the imagery of Teresa being decapitated out of her mind, even after all these years, and hearing Priscilla say such things was simply unacceptable to her.

"Idol...You've got to be kidding." Clare said as she watched her weakened opponent.

"I hated the yoma. There was nothing I wanted more in the world than to destroy them...So I was obsessed with being the strongest I could so I wouldn't die against them..." Priscilla said;

As clare simply stood still from shock, Priscilla picked up her blade from the rocky ground and assuming a shaky, yet determined attack stance. Raising her blade with a newfound confidence, Priscilla looked sturdily at her angered opponent:

" When the organization first took me in, I heard that Teresa of the Faint Smile was the current number one at the time, the strongest and most powerful warrior the organization had. I grew to adore that name, hoping that one day, I would surpass her and be called the strongest claymore of all... So...You cannot imagine what I must have felt when I learned she broke the cardinal rule and that it was my job to kill her! Kill Teresa of the Faint Smile! the most feared and respected of warriors! I didn't even have a number and was suddenly made the new number two tasked to take her down! You think I betrayed Teresa...but it was TERESA THAT BETRAYED ME!"

"BITCH you have no right to say that!" Clare yelled, dashing for Priscilla and putting all her might in swift strike against her.

A devilish yellow flooded Priscilla's eyes, giving her the much needed boost in strength to quickly parry the harsh blow and replying accordingly;

"How dare I not say that! If it wasn't for you, I would have fought by Teresa's side! Perhaps even take the title of the strongest Claymore! It would have meant everything to me! So you're not the only one who's life was ruined that day!"

That struck a deep nerve in Clare. She didn't like what she was hearing, and lashed out by throwing a surprise jab across the side of Priscilla's face. At the same time however, a strike by Priscilla had connected with her as well, and the two of them staggering off to the sides from the blows they received from each other. Holding their aching jaws with their free hand, they returned their fuming gazes upon the other:

"Somebody like you...would never have surpassed Teresa! It's an insult for you to even stand in her shadow! " Clare yelled fumingly.

"Who are you to say such things! You don't know that! At least I don't worship the ground where she stands! " Priscilla cried back.

"You have no right to question me! At least I'm not a monster!" Clare sneered back.

Though clearly drained of strength, A delightful smirk came across Priscilla's lips as she said softly: "Were it not for this weak claymore body of mine...I could crush your skull with a single hand and break every bone in your body...I would enjoy that immensely now that I think about it."

"Not before I remove your head as it should have been a long time ago!"

Infuriated, the two charged towards each other with an unprecedented fury. As the fight ensued, their weapons missed their marks ever increasingly, their dodges becoming more sluggish and exposed. Both their blades often found themselves scraping across the side the rocky cavern they now fought in instead of each other, damaging the ancient rock formations and only adding to their ever growing fatigue upon their failing muscles.

"You know, I really really dislike you!" Priscilla screeched, sending a threatening side swipe to which Clare evaded cleverly.

"That's great! I feel the same way about you! Now die!"'Clare retorted.

Priscilla ducked to avoid an attack that smashed against the cavern wall with a huge impact, shattering bits of the wall and causing a large crack in the ancient stone. The two of them were then forced to evade the resulting rockslide that crashed down a second later, almost crushing them entirely. When the rubble had stopped falling, and the sound of the ambience of the river next to them returned, the two returned their firming eyes upon the other.

Clare marched through the rubble, her metallic boots crushing the bits of rock under her as she stared fumingly:

""What the hell do you live for anyway? You eat human guts! And will never be human again! How can you continue on knowing what you are!"

"Shut up! You seem to be pretty reckless yourself! You may just end up going too far by accident and becoming just like me!" Priscilla yelled back.

Clare swiftly stabbed her sword towards Priscilla's head, but a clever dodge by Pricilla rendered the attack a mere scrape across her neck instead. Using the momentum of dodge to her own advantage, Priscilla attempted to ram her knee into Clare's gut in response, but was unsuccessful as she twisted cleverly off to the side in a similar fashion.

A sudden uppercut by Clare caught Priscilla by surprise however, the attack managing a convincing slash upon her abdomen as blood gushed outwards to stain both their battle ready faces. The two engaged yet again afterwards, but the added wound had done its work. Unable to wield her blade due to sheer fatigue, Priscilla's strength gave in for the final time she collapsed once more.

Unable to believe that she had now lost, Priscilla buried her face in the dirt, and set her eyes upon the boots of her opponent that stood so menacingly before her. It was a vision so hauntingly close to her situation with Teresa all those years ago, that as she stared into Clare's eyes she could almost swear that it was Teresa who looked back at her.

Collecting whatever was left of her strength, Priscilla let go of her blade and raised herself to a single knee, looking at her opponent with a sadden smile.

"So then...this is all that remains of my strength...I thought I could go on for a little longer, but I guess I can't. In this state, I could awaken at any time, so if you want to kill me then you should do it now. But before you do so I only ask that you crush the organization and end this injustice they have created... That is what I want in the end."

As she listened to Priscilla's plea, Clare looked over to her right hand, over at her trusty weapon that glistened so brilliantly under the moonlight. It was the piece of metal that she wished for so long would eventually be drenched in Priscilla's blood. She even fantasied about smudging Priscilla's blood into the grooves of her warriors symbol on her sword as an eternal reminder of her victory. For many years she had trained to get stronger, so one day she would gain enough power to accomplish this goal and restore honor to the one person that dragged her out of the abyss and brought meaning into her life, Teresa. It was completely unforgivable that Priscilla robbed her off this happiness, and she was to pay dearly for that crime.

Clare, however, didn't know what to think when her opponent lay so pathetically before her. She remembered how Teresa showed Priscilla mercy many times, but ultimately it was this way of thinking that led her to her death in the end.

Was being merciful a weakness? Clare often wondered that very question.

As her gaze drifted between that of her opponents' neck and the sharp edge of her own blade, Clare wondered what was going through Teresa's mind when she was in this similar situation back during that fateful time. She was the number one, and Priscilla's life was in her hands, and only a simple swing of blade would Finnish the deal, but Teresa hesitated more than once, and Clare had often wondered why she did so.

_Teresa..._

_You must have known that by showing an opponent mercy...you were sacrificing the safety of yourself and I..._

_So why did you not finnish it that time?_

_Priscilla was the enemy..._

_..._

_Should I do what you couldn't?_

_Should I end the life of Priscilla?_

Pumped full of adrenalin and a maze of conflicting thoughts running through her, Clare raised her blade above Priscilla's neck ready to make her decision, but the moment she did there was a very strange feeling in the back of her mind. Though she tried to shake this off, the feeling quickly moved outwards and flooded her body with a foreign, yet familiar energy.

_Just what...is this...just what..._

_This power..._

_Is taking over me..._

Staggering backwards, Clare dropped her sword and looked at the palm of her hands as she suddenly felt overwhelmed by this strange feeling that now rushed through her body, manifesting into what felt very much like yoki energy from a core that resided deep within her_. _The torrent was so overwhelming it felt as though a great dam had ruptured, releasing an ancient energy housed deep within herself outwards.

_Her essence is taking over me from within..._

_It's not worth fighting..._

_Teresa..._

* * *

once again this was quite a long chapter with a lot of things happening. it took me a little while to actually organise this together, and i hope it turned out well.

until next time.

thanks for reading.


	51. Chapter 51

chapter 51.

Finished this chapter, and was kind of sick of writing all those fighting scenes like in the previous chapters so I changed the tone and pace a little to suit the mood i was trying to achieve. I'm glad to read all the positive reviews of this story. started out a little idea which has now reached 51 chapters...i never thought it would go so long but i think this story deserves to be finished so i will continue it. I still have a lot of ideas in my head, and currently debating among myself as to where to take this story.

It warming to see all the positive reviews people are leaving behind, i encourage people to continue these as writing this story becomes much easier with all the feedback i receive.

Enjoy the story, and please leave a review if you have the time.

* * *

Isley lay comfortably in his creaky bed, staring at the roof of the small cabin he was supposed to call a room. For him, something this small wasn't something he wasn't very quite used to. Being the strongest among his awakened brethren, there was nobody who dared to oppose him, and especially because the number two, Rigardo swore to serve him ever since losing in their infamous duel. Being the king of the north had its certain privileges, and that meant he always got what he wanted, even if it was a luxurious two story house with expensive furniture, his men would see it would be finished within a single season. That place came to be his residence for over a century, and found himself missing it terribly especially now.

He sighed as he sat up from the his rather uncomfortable bed, walking over to the door thinking to get some fresh ocean air from outside. The night was still young, and most of the others wouldn't be around to annoy him during such a time he thought. Besides, this was the first time he'd ever been on a ship, and such an experience shouldn't be wasted in the confines of this pathetic cabin.

Opening the door, he was surprised to see both Anastasia and Dietrich standing just outside his room. The two of them, almost fell over from surprise when they saw the door open, their faces flushed brightly of the embarrassment of being caught red handed in their mischievous activities.

"Did you...want something? What are you doing outside my door?" Isley said.

-"Were sorry! We don't want you to think we were trying to break in or something! You see we were just curious about you seeing as your technically one of us again, you see we've never actually seen a male warrior before... -" Anastasia sputtered nervously.

Dietrich slammed an elbow against Anastasia's side angrily: "Why would you say something like that? Now he's going to kill us what are you thinking!"

Isley merely watched on strangely as these two fought amongst each other in a very immature manner. Though each was actually quite a desirable young woman he thought, they were merely girls with the emotional maturity to match their age, and he was not interested in such things.

Anastasia slipped slowly towards him, passing him a very friendly smile: "Hey...I heard those pills only last for a few days...I suppose you'd probably want to make the most out of such a situation..."

Dietrich followed suit, making her way to the other side of a rather uncomfortable Isley. The two young women leant against him, gently touching the sides of his arms as they looked up adoringly at him.

-"You have really nice hair..." she said dreamily.

Anastasia turned on her friend fumingly with a look of jealousy: "Hey get away! He obviously wants to speak with me and not you so get lost!"

-"What are you saying I can't speak with him because you think he wants only you?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying! I'm more glamorous than you are, so it's only natural he would chose me."

"You'll probably strangle him with that distasteful hair of yours!"

Isley was lost for a response. He merely watched with a blank expression as these two carried on before him. Very quickly, however, he had enough of this, and slipped away from them.

He smiled back deviously at them: "I've had the pleasures of many women during my life, but none of them are alive any more I'm afraid...I haven't yet taken that pill yet and I feel so hungry...hungry enough that I simply won't be able to resist feasting on your flesh should we get too close. If this doesn't bother then by all means, you may stay in my presence."

The two shot him horrified stares, naturally backing away from hearing such a thing. Their faces turned a ghostly white as Isley's eyes beamed a brilliant yellow, and the two soared each other a horrified glance.

-"Well... its late so we should go back to our cabins..." Dietrich slurred.

"Yeah we must be going now...please forgive us abyssal one!"

"that depends on how fast you can run..." Isley said.

He chuckled to himself as he watched the two almost trip over each other as they dashed away and around corner. The look on their faces was something priceless he thought, something he has long since admitted to enjoy seeing once in a while.

_finally I get some peace and quiet..._

_And time to think to myself..._

_This mainland, has always been a place I've known to exist. But I cannot believe Im actually heading towards that place..._

_I've always thought what it must be like..._

_Perhaps this is long overdue..._

Though he thought he was alone, a sudden gentle voice off to the side caught undivided attention.

-"That was quite mean of you..."

He turned over to the other shadowy corner and was pleased to see none other than Galatea standing near the railings, staring out at the horizon with a gentle gaze. As he stared at her, he suddenly realized that he admired simply everything about this woman. He admired those eyes of hers, those new, sparkling silver eyes that drowned out the beauty of the stars behind her. Her admired her long lingering hair, that swayed so gently against the breeze. He admired her slender frame and feminine curves, and that perky smile that screamed of both elegance and feistiness. But most of all he admired the fierceness that burned so brightly in her heart, an aura that lit brighter than anything he'd ever seen before.

"I just can't help it." he said: " I suppose it's in my nature to me a little mean sometimes. Besides, What are you doing here? Galatea? You were wounded so you should rest...such a wound shouldn't be ignored..."

"This new body of mine regenerates at a much faster pace than before...so there's no need to rest anymore. I'm already completely healed, and oddly enough, the scar across my torso as disappeared also...most peculiar..." she said.

"Oh yes that's right, your now half awakened or so you say. It seems that its similar to a full awakening in that any scars across the body disappear during the process...I'm glad to hear that..."

There was a brief moment of silence before She turned over to him: -" Isley...what will you do when you arrive on the mainland? I cannot imagine you simply integrating in with the rebellion...though I would be quite amused to see you attempt it."

He moved up towards her, placing his hands on the railings next to hers as he enjoyed the view of the water down below:

"I think you already know what I plan on doing once I arrive at this mainland..."

"so you plan to do that...I suspected such a thing from you..."

He smiled at her gently, moving his hand towards her face, and only after her consent, gently stroked the side of her cheek and gradually up towards her chin. He was delighted to see her respond quite favorably to his touch, but almost immediately she removed his hand and gave him an odd stare:

"I thought Priscilla was your woman."

Isley chuckled lightly: "Rumors spread very quickly, but that is not true in the slightest. Priscilla is merely a young girl, somebody who I care for but not in such a manner as you suggest. Besides, if she wanted to, she could have shred me to pieces, so I was always very wary of her... but it was Raki that seemed to calm her down. That boy was a godsend."

"Don't make it sound all that innocent. The truth is that you simply used Priscilla for your own benefit... You wanted to control her power all for yourself...somebody like you only cares about power."

"Well that's true, but things change over time. Priscilla just needed somebody to latch on to and I provided that environment for her, and in return, she guaranteed my protection, well, for a while anyway..."

"You went your separate ways from her and Raki shortly after those abyssal feeders targeted you.. But you must have known that no matter how many of them there were Priscilla would never be defeated..." Galatea said.

"I wasn't going to subject Priscilla's to such danger...I couldn't do that to her...it wasn't her fight and I chose to take them on myself rather than risk hurting her or Raki..."

"That's most admirable...you must have known you would die..."

He smiled at her, moving his hands across her cheek for a second time: "But I didn't. Things turned out quite well in the end did they not? You could have killed me but you chose not to so I am grateful to you for that."

brushing off his advances yet again, Galatea's face lowered:

"You know...if you were going to stop Roxanne anyway you could have done it before she stabbed me...You could have stopped her but you didn't... "

Isley froze for a moment as he looked into the eyes of this most stunning female before him. He thought for a moment about his next words, and answered her soundly when he was ready:

"Beautiful things should be protected...I only realized that a little too late I suppose..."

Galatea merely looked up at him with a look of intrigue, a delicious smile came across her lips:

"Beautiful...you flatter me by saying such things. If I didn't know better I'd say your flirting with me..but we're from different worlds you and I...your an abyssal one...and our kind will always be at war with each other..."

Isley lowered his head sadly closer to the railings, his head to the side keeping his gaze upon the face of the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. Regretfully in the past, his handling of the opposite gender wasn't exactly something he was proud of, especially after becoming the king of the North. Galatea, however was somebody different. He didn't want to hurt her in any manner, and most certainly had no intentions of forcing anything upon her that she wasn't ready for. Never before had he thought in such a way, putting a woman above that of himself, but for the first time in his life all the strength he possessed was completely nullified with just one look upon this most stunning girl.

He sighed as he pulled out the purple pill from his coat Rubel gave him earlier, throwing it in his mouth and swallowing it quickly. Immediately he could feel the effects taking place over his entire body. The wind felt colder and harsher, and a strange numbness set across his hands and legs. It had been far too long since he had felt the cold against his skin, but was pleasantly surprised to get such a feeling returned to him. The awakened flesh he had grown accustomed to for over a century suddenly reverted back to its former humanly self, a feeling he gladly welcomed back after all this time.

Galatea merely looked on with an intrigued look. On the outside he didn't change in the slightest, but on the inside she could feel the difference, and it was a strangely welcoming feeling.

"I'm not an abyssal one tonight..." Isley said warmly at her: "i suppose I could be considered a rebel just like yourself temporarily... But I'm a little cold..."

Galatea chuckled at this, the two looking at each other with a strange admiration, enjoying the company and warmness the other radiated. Seeing his opportunity, Isley moved in closer towards her and wrapped his hands around the edges of her thigh, sending an electrifying jolt that ran up her spine at his touch.

"Just what...do you want me to warm you up or something?" Galatea teased.

"Now there's an idea."

She bit her lip as she scanned this most intriguing man before her with a look of guilty satisfaction across her face.

"I think I may need a little more convincing... And,I'm not sure if your even good enough for me... " she said with a cheeky smile.

"-Hey A king isn't good enough for you?" He said.

-"You really do think so high of yourself don't you?" she giggled.

Whatever it was that she said afterwards he did not hear, instead, he found himself mesmerized as he stared at her lips, the ones he would never get bored of. He lit up the moment he saw that little smile across her face, it made her seem even more beautiful than before if that was even possible. There was nothing more important than to see her smiling, because when she did, it was as if the whole world smiled along with her, and that was the most important thing in the world to him.

* * *

Standing at the aft end of the organizations ship, Hysteria wrapped her arms around the wooden frame that separated her from the vast expanse of water that surrounded far out to the horizon. Though the wind was chilling, she quite enjoyed its icy touch that tingled her skin and gently played with her long braided hair. The stars in the sky were a magnificent sight to behold as well, shimmering ever so lightly in the overwhelming blackness of the night sky.

Though she fought so hard not to, a moment ago, she had finally given in and taken that dreaded purple pill from that man Rubel. She thought she could fight back the demon inside, bit just like in her previous life, it simply proved to be an impossible task. The rush before awakening was overwhelming, the ecstasy and pain too great for a sane mind to begin to even grasp. If the pill hadn't have worked, one of the others was sure to try attempt to take her life before she awakened, but just like last time, she simply wouldn't have let that happen.

Nobody was allowed to touch her. Ever.

Hearing the sound of footsteps behind herself, Hysteria didn't even face this new person that disturbed the peaceful silence. She already suspected who it was beforehand, and was quite curious about what questions this person would bring along with them.

"Hysteria was your name' is that correct?" Audrey said cautiously, standing a safe distance away, watching the Elegant warrior as she leant comfortably against the wooden railings, watching the ocean.

Remaining silent for a moment, Hysteria answered soundly: "Indeed that is my name..."

"I've already spoken to the others including Cassandra and Roxanne..." Audrey said, letting out a sigh: "and trust me when I say you do not want to involve yourself in that mess I can tell you that now...somehow i don't think Rubel told Cassandra everything but she won't listen to me..."

"I don't really care about those two. One has a dreadful fighting style while the other one is just plain average. There is no elegance to any of them whatsoever, and that is just so disappointing as they are supposed to be fellow top warriors..."

Audrey found herself lightly chuckling at this, involuntarily moving up next to the far taller warrior that shot her a strange look in response. Hysteria wasn't used to anyone feeling comfortable enough to be this close to her. Most of the warriors from her time dared not to even stand in the same room as her for too long, let alone standing right beside her.

-"Roxanne wouldn't be happy to hear such a thing no doubt, but don't worry because anything said between us stays here I can promise you."

Hysteria threw her a stubborn, irritated look: "stays between us?...just what are you saying? Do you really think I'm afraid of that one?"

"no, of course not...I was just merely -"

Interrupting her, the braided warrior said: "I'm so glad you understand...now tell me more about this rebellion you spoke of. I want to know more about that and Teresa, especially Teresa. Is she the leader?"

Audrey thought to herself for a moment, unsure of whether she could trust this warrior with such sensitive information, but continued on regardless, knowing it was probably in her best interest not to deceive this warrior and avoid possible future repercussions.

"Actually the leader is a former warrior called Phantom Miria, and now that I think about it, you and her share the same general combat style...instant speed burst through release of yoki energy... Perhaps she was even inspired by you...the archives have quite a few mentions of you..."

Hysteria threw her an intrigued, yet deeply irritated look: "Oh is that the case? Well then this phantom Miria is somebody I most definitely have to meet as well...can't have something like that going on for too long..."

" Perhaps you and Miria can even learn from each other seeing as you have such similar techniques."

Hysteria sighed coldly at this. Such an idea was not something she fancied. In her mind she was the queen of her technique and nobody else. Anyone who tried something similar was nothing but an imposter in her mind, and Impostors didn't contain a shred of elegance to them.

"I do not seek her friendship... I will show her which one of us is the superior...this world simply isn't big enough for two of us I'm afraid."

"Your thinking of killing her aren't you? I wouldn't advise such a thing... Miria is pretty tough herself and she will be strongly defended by her group..." Audrey said.

"I am not a barbarian so I will do things in a civilized manner. If this phantom Miria is a true leader she will accept my challenge to a proper duel..."

"Civilized manner? didnt you massacre most of your own comrades? Forgive me but a warrior who does such a thing does strike me as a barbarian" Audrey said.

Hysteria smiled elegantly: "Why should i meet my end with such inferior adversaries...I refuse to meet my end in such a manner. My life is mine and no organization can take it away from me..."

"I suppose...that makes sense in a way..." Audrey said.

"Tell me more about this Miria." Hysteria said.

"Miria is technically the leader of the group, but there is little doubt that Teresa is by far the strongest of them all...you may need to know that."

"Oh my that so? Just why would the strongest submit to a weaker one? That's quite strange that is." Hysteria said.

"No you have it all wrong, Teresa isn't the type to want to dominate those around her, at least not anymore, and besides, she was only recently brought back like you guys and had joined the rebellion a few days ago...".

"This Teresa sounds so very interesting...you say she is the strongest amongst the rebels, but tell me how she would compare to somebody like myself? I suppose you've most likely seen her in combat so you would be the one to ask."

Audrey shot her a chilling stare, thinking deeply for a moment before she answered: "I wouldn't even bother...There is nobody alive that can defeat Teresa now... well at least not any of our kind..."

"Whatever do you mean? Surely after laying witness to myself against that horrible awakened one all that time you would regard me in high esteem..." Hysteria said with a sophisticated, yet deeply criticizing manner.

"You, Roxanne and Cassandra are incredibly powerful, warriors of the old at their peak during a time of minimal corruption and disruptions from outside events. You three are at the pinnacle of what's possible in strength...and bring pride to the seat at number one among the warriors that's for sure..."

Hysteria merely stared at her oddly, unsure what to think of this high praise. Though she had many questions about this Teresa, never before had she been acknowledged in this regard before, and especially not by a 'fellow comrade', but she did however find this incredibly flattering to hear and was quite eager to listen on.

Audrey added: " The truth is that Teresa is a step above what even the strongest first ranking warriors are capable of. I don't think any of you three can defeat her..."

"i certainly don't believe you...This Teresa cannot be faster than me...nobody is faster and more precise than me, that would be simply ridiculous!"

"Even if she isn't, I wouldn't advise you to challenge that one. Trust me when I say that Teresa will kill you."

Hysteria remained silent for a moment, but her face grew a little more irritated after a short moment: " why should I believe you when you say that? You could just be trying to protect Teresa from me. Among being ignored, being lied to is also something I hate, so for your sake you better be telling me the truth."

-"If you want a more thorough diagnosis you could ask Galatea...but if I'm not mistaken she's probably with Isley...so that won't be possible for a while I'm afraid...I'm a little concerned about that actually... Isley...I don't trust him..." Audrey added warily, recalling strange sounds coming out earlier from the room they locked themselves in at the very centre the ship.

Hysteria's face stiffened suddenly, turning her attention back onto the view of the endless mass of ocean before her. A look of boredom quickly set across her, as if the conversation was over in her mind:

"Interesting talk, now please shoo."

"excuse me?" Audrey said brow raised.

"that's quite enough talk for now, I tend to keep to myself you see," Hysteria said getting increasingly agitated: " and I suggest you respect that. I don't want you to think we can be friends or anything silly like that. Just what do you think you're doing talking to me in such a manner anyway? Simply ridiculous why I even care what you say."

Audrey backed away slowly, though keeping her eyes firmly set upon this powerful warrior before her.

"I understand how you must feel...You have no reason to trust me, but I ask you to at least consider my advice. You are my comrade after all in the end, and I don't want to see you hurt..."

Hysteria didn't respond. She merely remained as still as a statue as she leant comfortably against the railings, looking back at the ocean as though lost in deep thought. Audrey wasn't expecting a response from her, and nor did she even want one. This was the best outcome she could hope for with somebody like Hysteria after all.

* * *

Teresa brushed away the last of the leaves in her way as she finally left the forest clearing and entered upon the rocky shoreline where Clare and Priscilla lay unconscious next to a cave opening. Much of the ancient rock formation was ruined, with an entire half completely collapsed in itself, no doubt due to their frenzied strikes the two threw at each other during their violent outburst. The river next to them washed away the trails of blood that flowed across the sand from the many cuts and wounds across both their bodies.

As Teresa made her way through all the rubble, she sighed as she stopped before the two warriors that lay so peacefully next to each other. It was a great irony, she thought, that after such a fight the two would end up in such a manner, and not with one of them standing before the lifeless corpse of the other.

"Just what did you do to Clare?" Irene said, arriving from the side with a suspicious look upon her for we comrade.

Teresa looked over at her in silence, then over at Miria who appeared only a moment later with similar questions plastered across her face:

"I merely synchronized my essence from within her, Teresa said with a faint smile: " It appears the influx of power seemed to have made her fall unconscious however..."

Miria leant down next to Clare,inspecting the many, but non-life threatening wounds upon her comrade. She looked over at Teresa afterwards:

"Clare has always contained remnants of your strength from deep within her... Ever since you awakened back in Rabona, the link between you two is comparable to that of Alicia and Beth...perhaps even further than those two..."

Irene's eyes shot open at this: "Awakened? Did I hear that correctly? Teresa is this true?"

Teresa sighed heavily at this. Such topics were never something she enjoyed discussing much to others, especially because much of it eluded herself:

"Apparently so," she said," though I have no memories of what happened back then..."

Miria threw her a strange Glare:"I wonder...just how much power you unlocked from within Clare? I can definitely feel something different about her...i hope you know what your doing..."

Teresa merely stared at the two with a blank expression on her face, then looked over at the unconscious Clare below her feet. Though Clare was the most important person in the world to her, there was also no doubt it was her that would also pose the biggest threat in the not so distant future, as much as she hated to admit it.

_I only released around half of my dormant powers within her..._

_For now I feel this is the best course of action..._

_I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with her possessing even this much power..._

_When Clare regains consciousness..._

_Who knows how powerful she'll be?_

_Though..._

_I wouldn't mind to find out..._

"I did the best that I could..." Teresa lied, looking over at Miria: "The soul link process is rather complicated after all..."

Miria gave her a hawklike Glare. She found it curious how Teresa wore that infamous faint smile across her, looking rather composed during such a distressing situation. Though Clare's life was not particularly in danger, she would have thought Teresa would been slightly more empathetic in such a situation. At that moment, it was clear to her that she didn't quite know the real Teresa after all, the Teresa who now saw past the child that used to be, returning to her original instincts as a warrior.

Though this was something from Teresa Miria didn't quite expect, it was an understandable reaction she thought. The last time Teresa abandoned her warrior's instincts, her head came flying off at Priscilla's hands, and it was no doubt this past experience was the explanation to this new defensive behavior of hers.

"Clare admires you Teresa. You shouldn't fear her..." Miria said.

"What...do you mean by that?" Teresa shot back accusingly.

The phantom warrior smiled as the set her mind back to pleasant times: "I know what it's like to have a true friend. To have somebody so important that their lives mean even more to you than your own, because without them, there is simply no pleasures or joy left in life anymore...The world forever feels empty when somebody like that disappears from the world... Clare had endured such a feeling for a very long time..."

Teresa glared blankly at her for a moment, but let out a little smile as a torrent of old memories about her past together suddenly caught up with her.

Ever since she first discovered her supremacy over her own classmates, Teresa always kept a distance from the others. She was so far ahead in fact, that even the number two, Irene, posed no threat to her whatsoever. To Teresa, there was no difference in the numbers among her classmates, she was at a level simply above them all, and even the so-called second-strongest might as well have been the number 47. She often wondered the very nature of this, but could find no answers for it.

Teresa often wondered what the current number one at the time was like. Of course, being a trainee, she had virtually no hope to meet this organizations strongest warrior, the highly respected Rosemary. Trainees rarely even saw the warriors of single digit status. That was a rare commodity indeed, and Rosemary was the rarest of them all.

As months of training passed, young Teresa soon discovered that not even those creatures called the deadly yoma deemed any threat to her. During junior missions with the others, her teammates would fight at their limits against these creatures, but to her they weren't even a remote challenge, and certainly weren't opponents even worthy of her blade. It didn't matter how many of them there were, or how big and muscular, it didn't make a difference at all in the end. If she had to, she would have no problem ripping them apart with her bare hands if needed.

Due to this, Teresa always felt like there was something missing in her life, and this soon turned into a strange loneliness that haunted her ever since. It was as though the missing other half of her soul was lost out there in the world, and she was determined to find it, even if it would kill her.

So she would often look for her answers by sneaking out of the organizations grounds, towards the grown up territory filled with wildlife and stray yoma. She would often wonder so far as to even reach the closest available town before finally being found out.

During one these misadventures, she had come across a strange warrior named Rafaela. At first Teresa wasn't sure whether she was a yoma, claymore or a mere human. With an aura so faint, it was difficult for her to tell. It was only when she saw the battle scar across her face and single silver eye that assured her status as a Claymore.

Before Teresa even had any time to say much at all, one of the organization goons had quickly tracked her down and was quick to return her back to the organization. Their meeting had been very brief, but immediately Teresa felt compelled to find this person again.

Something was telling her that this warrior Rafaela was somebody very powerful, but was simply hiding this fact by being a remarkably good at suppressor of her yoki. Never before had Teresa come across a warrior who managed to hide their auras from her sharp abilities, and she was fascinated by this.

Soon, her impatience got the best of her, and before long, she returned to the same place hoping to find Rafaela again. It was of great relief when she had indeed discovered Rafaela nearby, and she approached her excitingly.

At first, Rafaela was resistant to her training pleas, warning her to back away and return to the organization for her own good. But Teresa was too stubborn to listen to her. She was determined to learn from this powerful warrior and refused to listen to her warnings. Rafaela even went as far as throwing a powerful kick against her young body as a warning to stop annoying her. At the time, Rafaela's boot stung like nothing else, but Teresa refused to give in and continued to follow the warrior stubbornly nonetheless.

Eventually Rafaela gave in, and Teresa was delighted when this warrior agreed to train her. In Teresa's eyes, Rafaela was the perfect warrior. Somebody who fought not with pure strength and agility, but with the absolute minim power instead, touting efficiency as the most important thing above all else.

The first time they had fought however, Teresa was horrified to find herself utterly overpowered for the first time in her life . Their first sparing match resulted In her face thrown in the dirt by this superior warrior that was both stronger and faster than her at the time. Nobody had ever done something like this to her, and it was a treatment Teresa was not used to. She remembered one time when she released her yoma powers due to sheer frustration from being completely overpowered, but received a crushing boot to the gut in response.

Though Teresa's fighting techniques were already at a level far beyond her fellow peers, This training with Rafaela sharpened her skills to a point even further. Rafaela sword swings were powerful, efficient and deadly, without the faintest hiccups or slowdowns in them, and Teresa learned from her teacher very quickly.

Rafaela told her that the secret to her own strength was actually her yoma suppression, that training with an aura fully suppressed should be the goal of all warriors. She warned Teresa not to use her yoma powers during normal times, only reserving the extra power they granted in times of absolute need.

Eventually, Teresa found a happiness she had long since searched for in spending time with this powerful warrior. Her strength had increased dramatically over the short time they trained together, but it was simply the time she spent with Rafaela that she cherished the most. She had finally found an answer to the dreaded loneliness that plagued her for so long. She no longer felt alone, and to her it felt as if the world had given her a big sister.

The day when Rafaela disappeared without a trace was a great day of great sadness for Teresa. For many months she desperately waited for her in their meeting places, but the warrior would never again show up. She had no idea what had happened to Rafaela, whether she was killed or simply found a need to move on without any notice. Teresa never found an answer to that, and ever since the thought had never left her mind.

With Rafaela gone, Once again that dreaded loneliness that haunted Teresa had returned yet again, this time, it stung even worst than before. Eventually, she began to lose interest in her life, and in due time, grew to lose interest in just about everything else. In a way she hated the world. Hated how it was filled with nothing but sadness and loneliness for her, and hated what she had become.

Soon after when she had graduated and promoted to the rank of number one, Teresa greeted it like she did everything else.

A simple faint smile.

That smile quickly became known among the others, and soon, the whole of the organization. It was the faintest of smiles that never left her gentle face, no matter what battle or monster she fought against. Quickly word spread of her unmeasurable power, and before long she became known as Teresa Of The Faint Smile.

Even during the most difficult of missions, reserved only for the top ranking warriors, Teresa would head towards her mission destinations without any sense of excitement or fear. She dared the world to throw the worst at her, hoping to find an enemy so utterly powerful it could even defeat the likes of her, but for years she was left utterly disappointed.

Even the secret creatures known as awakened ones were simply no match for her. Being the number one at the time, she was tasked with slaying many of them, and quickly came to realize the sad truth. All awakened ones were former claymores who had passed their limits and became monsters that feed on humans. Ever since she came to this realization, her viewpoint on the world, and that of the organization had reached a new low. Even the former number one, Rosemary, the warrior she admired for so long as a trainee, lost her mind from jealousy and attempted to kill her by the sending of a black card as an awakened being. Disposing of her was disappointingly simple, and if the former number one posed no threat to her, then her hopes for a challenge out there for her diminished greatly.

As her life dragged on, she hated the world further, but soon enough she grew tired of even that particular emotion itself.

In due time she only had one wish. She would wish that there was something out there that was strong enough to defeat her, something that is stronger than these stray awakened beings she was often assigned to eliminate, and even much stronger than rosemary. She wanted to find Something that could end her suffering and give peace to her pained soul.

And thus, Teresa would often look for those creatures called the dwellers of the deep, fabled to be the strongest of all awakened beings, all former holders of the number one seat, just like herself.

During one of her travels between missions, Teresa felt the presence of what she thought was one of them living in the far south, the one called Luciela Of The South. For the first time in a long time, she felt a strange sense of wonder at this discovery, but as she got closer to the distant source, she suddenly stopped when a sudden realization hit her.

Though the yoki was impressive, it quickly became clear that even one deemed a dweller of the deep was an opponent she could defeat without too much effort on her part. Even if the other two were twice as strong as this one, it just simply wasn't enough. It was nowhere near enough.

Not even the strongest of monsters in the darkest shadows of the world were a match for her. She was the biggest monster in the end.

The dark void in her heart grew ever bigger at this discovery, making her feel even more detached to this cruel world that tormented her endlessly. As strong as she was, she was completely powerless at combating her greatest enemy. Herself.

Then one day, when she had all but given up on the world, she met a little girl as she passed by a certain town. In meeting this girl, Teresa remembered that her own mother had named her after one of the twin goddesses of love, the two sisters who's love was said to transcended time itself. At first she was rather surprised to understand the child's name was Clare, but did her best to hide the growing empathy this girl brought forth from her own heart. But in spending time with Clare, protecting her, and in time, loving her, was the greatest fulfillment Teresa had ever felt.

While for the majority of her life she was in pursuit of another worthy of being her opponent, in the end, the answer to her loneliness ended up being the exact opposite of what she thought. It wasn't the mightiest of opponents nor the most monstrous of yoma, instead, the answer took the form of one of the weakest things the world could have thrown at her, the weakest and the most precious...A mere little girl.

This little one, who shared the same pain as her, the same dreaded loneliness, futility, hopelessness as her, in the end was the ultimate happiness she had long since searched for. She had finally found the other missing half of her soul in the form of this child, and she wasn't going to let the world take this most precious thing away from her.

* * *

I'm sure we all agree just how awesome Teresa is, and i simply couldn't help but write quite a lot about her in this chapter... Now I'm not sure if Rafaela and Teresa ever met again afterwards in the manga, but nevertheless I think it works in this context.

As for Galatea and Isley, i couldn't help but write a little romance scene again. it's been a while since i wrote one, i think the last time was with Audrey and Raki...

thanks for reading, and i would appreciate of you leave a comment!


	52. Chapter 52

Wrote this chapter a little quicker than usual, so i hope people will enjoy it. i've read from a few reviewers that say they would like a bunch of other characters to be included in the story a little more, so i've tried to incorporate as many characters as i can, and will try to do so in future chapters.

This chapter is a little different to the ones before it, but i hope it will be a pleasant surprise!

* * *

Teresa collapsed against her bed, arms across her sides with her palms resting under her head comfortably. A moment ago, she placed Clare soundly against her own bed, with Irene doing the same for Priscilla, and now she just gazed up at the ceiling of these warriors's barracks, through a small crack that revealed only a single star from the sky above.

This place reminded her of the training facility back on the island, but it was far more militaristic than what she was used to. Instead of it being located on a barren wasteland, this was a small city that overlooked the vast ocean, housing many more warriors, and many of them very powerful indeed. But since Irene was number one, they were practically above the law, at least that's what Irene had said.

Teresa ran her hands through her hair, overwhelmed by her recents thoughts. She turned to look over at Clare who rested soundly in a bed right beside hers. Though she was no longer a little girl, Teresa still marveled at the peaceful way in which she slept, looking as if she dozed off the moment her head hit the pillow. The girl certainly hadn't changed much from the child she was before, only this time she simply weighed more and wielded a claymore like herself.

Teresa closed her eyes, trying to get some sleep but finding herself unable put her mind at rest. She sighed, raising herself out from the bed, glancing over at Clare again before taking notice of some movement off to the side. Much to her surprise it was Priscilla, the young warrior panting as she planted her feet across the floor, rubbing her eyes shadily as she regained her consciousness.

"What's going on? Priscilla?" Teresa said slowly, throwing a scrutinizing stare the smaller warriors' way.

"Teresa..." Priscilla said weakly, as though unable to believe her eyes.

"Yes that's my name. Now tell me what I want to hear."

"What do you mean? We were just fighting and -" Priscilla said, her voice sluggish and shaky.

"Clare went to you so she could get stronger. Is that right?"

"That's what she said yes, but she also told me that -"

Teresa cut her off abruptly: "What Clare said stays between you and her. It's nothing I should know. But tell me? How is she?"

"Weren't you...watching the entire time?" Priscilla sneered.

Teresa smiled: "Of course. Is that why you didn't try to kill her with a cheap shot when she had you defeated?"

Turning her head over in shame, Priscilla muttered with a sorrowful tone:

"Teresa...back then...when I begged for you to take my head...I truly had no intentions of deceiving you, But as I watched you about to decapitate me...I was so afraid of death, so ignorant in my hatred that I just lost it..."

Teresa merely stared oddly at this girl before her that now began to sob quietly before her. Her mystifying silver eyes shined a distinct cobalt from the smallest of glares, the eyes that Priscilla had grown to fear ever since they first fought, something that petrified her more than anything else.

"I know that." Teresa said calmly.

Raising her teary face, Priscilla couldn't understand why Teresa didn't have the faintest trace of anger across her gentle face. Hearing something like that was surely a distressing thing to hear, but it seemed Teresa was somebody entirely different to her, someone she was yet to understand.

Sobbing yet again, she added: "What kind of a person am I? What kind of a person does that to somebody else? It's unforgivable that I betrayed your trust like that..."

"The past is in the past...don't dwell on it for too long." Teresa said.

"...You forgive me just like that?"

Teresa remained silent for a moment, raising herself to her feet and grabbing her Claymore that leant across her bed. She took a fine swing across the air, before turning Priscilla's way:

"I don't forgive you. What you did was completely despicable And I should kill you for it." she said, looking over at the exit: "but we shouldn't talk here... Come out for a walk with me..."

Priscilla remained awestruck for a moment, but did as she was told, grabbing her own weapon and following Teresa cautiously out to the peaceful exterior of the training fields. It was large but quite empty, deathly silent under the shroud of the night, with only a few sections of training dummies and other equipment scattered about. During the day Regulators and guards would use these fields to train and run laps around the area, but during the nights there was nobody present.

The two had moved about a hundred feet or so into the field, An emptiness surrounded them for what seemed so vast. Off to the distance, The giant colosseum dwarfed everything else around it, the loud cheers and roars none existent at such a time.

Teresa sighed gently, looking over at Priscilla: "Do you want to know the true reason why I didn't kill you?."

Priscilla threw her a questionable look at first, but then quickly found herself overwhelmed by guilt as she listened on:

"I didn't kill you because when I looked at you, I saw a rather bright, though naive young girl who had only just graduated from the organization and sent on her first formal mission. I knew I could easily end our fight, but I didn't want your blood on my hands, I didn't want to save the life of a young girl only to end the life of another."

Priscilla remained tight lipped, her youthful face cringing with an overwhelming sense of guilt:

"You honestly should have killed me...I was willing to do anything to have your head...you knew that."

Teresa remained perfectly still as she watched on eagerly with her mystifying silver eyes, this and the way the nightly winds played with her long wavy hair was a visage that had haunted Priscilla for so many sleepless nights for as long as she could remember.

"I probably should have," Teresa said: " but now please explain to me what you plan on doing about your awakening... If I'm not mistaken the effects could ware off at any moment..."

-"oh thats right. I'm not sure...I guess I'll just have to fly away or something. I haven't seen many other awakened ones with wings so perhaps these guards won't be able to catch me..." Priscilla said.

"I will not defend you when that time comes."

"I know that," Priscilla said " I don't need your help for the matter anyway. I can take care of myself. But tell me, if things had been different, would I have eventually surpassed you? I've feared your name for so long so please tell me the truth...it's something I've always wanted to know."

The wavy haired warrior looked at odds with such a bold question, an analyzing stare set upon this former young talent:

"And why do you want to surpass me?"

"It's useless to know now...but I would like to know the truth regardless. I was told that I was one day to surpass the number one, you. So please tell me if that's true."

-"impossible to tell. Such things just aren't measurable any more."

Priscilla cried: "Hey don't pretend that you don't know!"

Much to her surprise, Teresa suddenly looked off to her side as though taking notice of something interesting. Priscilla looked around to see what Teresa noticed but couldn't feel anything at all.

"Come out. I know you've been following us." Teresa said, her voice echoing through the field.

The moment she said that, a slim figure revealed herself out from the shadows, the one called Skye of the number one warriors. Her emerald blue eyes and shoulder-short coal black hair her most interesting features standing out before the darkness. She had her metal bow sheathed across her back, with about a dozen of those metallic bolts she considered arrows. Each one weighted over ten pounds, and were large enough to be used a weapon on their own.

Her short wavy hair bristled with the winds' touch, before moving on closer towards them in an almost arrogant manner:

"I sense that there is something wrong. You guys are planning a rebellion aren't you? " Skye said, her exotic accent hard to not take immediate notice of.

"Just how did you know that?" Priscilla said naively.

"So it is true," Skye said, her reaction indifferent: "I knew it! you guys are pretty obvious."

Teresa sighed, glancing annoyingly over at Priscilla before looking back at Skye:"So, will you be reporting us to the organization? Wonder how far that will go."

"I already know that won't work. There's no doubt The number one regulator, Irene is behind all this too. Such a corrupt system..."

"It's not like there's a membership or something, but you should ask Miria first of you want to joi-" Priscilla said.

Teresa interrupted her, throwing a cold gaze Skye's way: "That weapon...why do you use it? It seems a little bit unnecessary."

Skye smirked proudly: " I can kill an awakened from a mile away with this weapon. What can yours do?"

"A fair point I suppose, but let me ask you another question, and Depending on your answer I might kill you on the spot, so I want you to think long and hard before you say something I wouldn't like."

-"And what do you want to ask me?" Skye said curiously.

"What do you plan to do... now that you know this information?"

"Nothing."

Teresa merely listened on to this young girl, her youthful looks a sharp contrast to the warrior that she was. Skye seemed almost a little too young, similar to that of Priscilla when she was drafted as a warrior. Her timid looks oozed of a strange innocence, though it did nothing to hide her powerful nature that crowned her number one on her respective island.

"Nothing at all?" Teresa said.

"No not really, it's not my business. As long as you guys don't hurt any of our kind then you even have my support. Sticking together for a common cause is something too natural for humans to do after all." Skye said.

She reached for her back and pulled out her metallic bow that glistened under the moons rays. Pulling out an arrow from her quiver, she armed her weapon, looking over at a certain training dummy a few hundred feet away:

"You see," Skye added, drawing her immense bow and pulling back on the steel mesh string: "it's the job of the strongest to be the support and inspiration of the weaker ones, So that everyone can live through their lives, no matter how challenging it may be knowing they had the support of each other."

The thundering sound of thousands of pounds of tension tensed and creaked the metal bow, sounding as if the material would simply give in and snap. This was a weapon only one of their kind could wield, something a human wouldn't even begin to grow the muscles for. It seemed to be made from the same material as their infamous Claymore swords, no doubt also making it quite heavy and indestructible in itself. Skye may have been small, but she was obviously quite physically strong, and wielded her exotic weapon very well.

Releasing the string, the arrow bolted out, slicing through he air until it impacted the distant target dummy, annihilating it and slamming into quite a few others as well. The impact was heavy, cracking the earth beneath it as if it weighed a tone.

Skye smiled back at them gently: "In this world, strength is all that counts. And there is no doubt you two are among the strongest here, so that is why I find you so interesting you see."

"Strength can also be a curse." Teresa said.

"Only if you let it be. Strength is always a blessing in my mind. Always seek more strength, because with strength you have power and control."

"Power and control...I know exactly how you feel..." Priscilla said.

Skye added: "We are what we are, so we might as well be the best that we can be. You know, shoot for the stars as they say. My goal was always to be the strongest Claymore, and I'm proud to be surrounded by so many who probably think the same about themselves. This place is a great opportunity for all of us to learn and grow from each other."

* * *

Under the darkness of the night, Riful sat peacefully against one of the many empty seats of the colosseums' outer ring, marveling at the fuming battle of Raki and Ophelia in the centre of giant battlefield. The two had been at it for many hours now, and the scars of battles were painfully evident across them. Blood marked a significant portion of their clothes, leaking down beneath their feet, creating long marks in the sand around them. If things continued how they were, there was no doubt one of them was sure to faint from sheer blood loss, or simply die from the continued wounds upon their flesh. The battle was a complete blood bath, and Riful enjoyed every second of it.

_Impressive..._

_That Ophelia is an awakened one..._

_Not even Dauf would be able to defeat her no doubt..._

_But that man is able to keep up with her in both strength and agility..._

- "Oy Riful, thought I'd find you in such a place_," _a voice said to her side.

Riful turned over to see Helen and Deneve arrive next to her. She grinned at the fearless, and almost naive look of Helen, but seemed more at home to see Deneve looking slightly more wary of her presence. Though she had to admit to herself that she grew to like these two, the fact that they were potentially future adversaries was very clear in the back of her mind.

"Come to watch the show with me? It's such a good show and it would be more fun to watch it together. Dauf says he's too tired and we got in a fight so he's...no here." Riful giggled.

"I wouldn't miss this fight for this world. That Raki sure knows how to swing a claymore that's for sure." Helen spurted excitedly, retiring upon a seat next to Riful, pulling out a shiny red apple in her hand.

"Just where did you get that apple from anyway Helen? Where do you find these things?" Deneve sighed.

Taking a bite of her apple, Helen replied: "I have a secret stash. But I'm running low now so I'll have to find some more soon... Hey Riful you want one?"

"Oh I already ate so no thanks, -"

Before she could Finnish, her words came to an abrupt end as she caught the apple Helen threw her way regardless.

"Who knows when you'll return to an awakened one again," Helen said: "might as well enjoy the little things in life while you still can..."

Riful looked on oddly at her for a moment, then down at the piece of fruit down below in her hands. To her, it didn't look particularly tasty, especially after being so used to consuming human flesh and guts for so many decades. Returning to being a claymore was something she found quite annoying at first, but now as she thought deeply on this, a flood of pleasant memories set back into her, and it became clear to her that deep down she missed her former self to a certain extent.

Deneve looked over at Riful: "we're not telling you what to do, but If I were you I would enjoy being human for as long as I can. you might not get another chance like this again."

Hearing this, Riful took a small, cautious bite of the apple. At first, the taste was something She quite enjoyed, but the sourness quickly overwhelmed her mouth and she ended up spitting out the remaining pieces, throwing the apple off to the side disgusfully:

"Yuk! No it's no good. You see, I am what I am and to me this stuff doesn't taste any good anymore...it's been far too long for me..."

Helens face horrified: "Hey you could have given it back to me! Why did you throw it away now it's all dirty!"

Riful frowned over at her: "But it's so sour and gross! If you like it so much why don't you just pick it up and wash it? You gave it to me so what I do with it is my business!"

Deneve sighed as the two fought amongst themselves for a while longer, but a sudden burst of yoki from the center of the colosseum grabbed their undivided attention.

"Do you feel that?" she said.

* * *

His blade blade was drenched in blood, and most of his body was covered in many fine cuts from Ophelia's ruthless strikes that dug into his flesh. His body has already slowed down regenerating a while ago, the damage upon him simply too much for it cope with at the moment. but he didn't mind, he could still stand and swing a sword, so that's all what counted in the end. In front of him, was a panting Ophelia, the former number four scarred with just as many cuts as him. Blood soaked most of her warriors battle suit, bringing the true meaning of her title to fruit. As an awakened being in claymore form, regeneration was also her strong suit, bit like him, exhaustion slowly crept up behind her.

"This...is...overwhelmingly fun! It's the same as last time only now you're actually close to my level! Ridiculous how tough you've become!" Ophelia spurted excitingly, spitting out blood from her mouth.

"I'd ask how the pain feels like, but I'm sure your the type to enjoy such things..." Raki said.

-"Hey pain is important you know! How else would you know your body is damaged? Pain can be pleasure if you let it to be..."

"Pleasure? Fine then let me give you more of it if that's what you want !" he roared.

Storming towards her, the two engaged in combat once again, their blades dancing between each other as the sound of metal clashing with metal ringed in their ears. Occasionally, one of them managed to hit a bit of flesh, spraying blood into the air as the newfound wound exploded outwards.

Raki groaned in pain as Ophelia's blade sliced open another of his ribs, causing him to stagger away backwards with an arm across his new wound.

"Hey! Is the fight already over? It's more fun if you fight back though..." Ophelia hissed, staring at him with a vampirous glare, flicking the fresh blood of her sword in a quick swipe.

"No it's not over yet...I didn't want to be pushed this far, but I guess I have no option now..."

Ophelia's grin widened from excitement: "Your not actually thinking about awakening are you? In such a place you wouldn't last a minute...but go ahead I'm not stopping you..."

"No I don't think so...you'll see..."

Raki tightened the grip of his blade, readying his body for something he's never tried before. Burying deeper than ever before, he could feel his very bones vibrate as he released a sudden torrent of foreign energy From within, infesting every muscle and fibre of his body. Around him, a strange fog of energy condensed outwards, as though hovering above his skin, constantly shifting like that of the surface of the ocean. It felt warm against his skin, staying near him as though it were an extension of his own the mass of energy was quite large, it wore almost no weight upon his shoulders and legs. It was not quite solid, yet not quite liquid either, a strange substance that simply stuck to him like a enveloping mist.

Ophelia simply couldn't believe her eyes. Never before had she seen something like this before, but she found it incredibly fascinating at the same time. It was as though a ghostly fog had surrounded him, a shield for him to use.

"That cloud around you...just how much yoki do you have for such a thing to be possible!" Ophelia said.

"I'm not sure, but I'd be ready for anything if I were you..."

* * *

"Woah...Do you...see that?" Riful said, her voice echoing in a strange awe

As she watched this event with crazed eyes, raising to her feet to get a better look.

"Just what? The hell is that stuff around him?" Helen said.

"Pure yoki energy..." Riful said.

-"How is that possible? For yoki to leave the body like that?"

Riful remained silent for a moment, lost amidst this most fascinating phenomenon before her. She thought the destroyer back on the island was something to be admired, but this was something far more interesting. The destroyer had made something of his body, and no doubt whatever that was would prove to be something of great importance.

-"That man has the power of two abyssal levels within him...but all that power is contained within a body the size of a mere human..."

The two watched the little girl with intensely. Though they didn't trust her entirely, they knew she must have been quite wise after all, being an abyssal for many decades, and probably knew what she was talking about.

Riful smiled deviously as she added: "Normally, when one awakens, all their yoki energy suddenly bundles together and manifests them a new awakened body...but in this case it simply has no where to go and merely condenses around him like a hopeless soul..."

"So then what is he? Human or one of us?" Deneve said, throwing her a worried look.

-"This yoki energy is mindless and has simply latched itself on to his consciousness... Forming a bond that is mutually beneficial to them both...absolutely fascinating. Technically he is nothing that can be described."

"I wonder...what this all means..." Helen said.

* * *

He could feel the energy move around him like running water that was warm to the touch, drenching his skin and clothes with a comfortable dampness. He moved a single hand upwards, and immediately the flow of energy moved along the exterior of his arm like a vortex that was his own.

As he released more energy, Ophelia took cautious steps backwards as this dense mass of energy expanded outwards, slowly bundling together to resemble a humanoid figure of some kind around him. As the form quickly took shape, it quickly became clear that this was no single humanoid creature, instead, two individual ones fused together, both with a single mighty wing shooting into the sky. To Ophelia, it seemed quite a lot like some old statue she couldn't quite remember about, one that was no doubt important in some sense no doubt.

The wind blew across this these towering ghastly yoki figures, blowing fragments of off into the wind. The substance was not opaque, but it distorted slightly the sights behind it like that of running water. Ophelia contained her excitement and stood her ground, unsure whether to be waiting for him to make the first move or simply charge in recklessly.

"Just what...is this stuff exactly?" Raki said, trying to catch the cloudy substance only to find it escaping in between his fingers as he tried to touch it.

"I don't know, but let's find out..."

Raki prepared himself as Ophelia charged in against him, Raising his blade in response to her sudden movements. As he did so however, the yoki mass around him seemed to react to this, forming into what looked very much like an enormous blade of its own, held by a pair of giant hands of the figures above him.

Though Ophelia was out of range, he swung his blade in her direction, and as he suspected, the giant ghostly weapon above him raced for her direction rapidly.

He watched as Ophelia simply evaded the ghastly blade that simply sunk into the ground as if it were made of nothing at all. Though there was definitely an impact, the blade clearly was not completely solid, nor liquid for that matter and simply disintegrated as it hit the surface.

"What was that? Such a soft thing cannot hurt me...it looks like its all for show or something..." Ophelia hissed, dashing towards him, pulling her blade back and readying for a strike.

He threw a sideways punch a moment too early, and was delighted to see a giant hand follow suit and smash directly into a surprised Ophelia. The impact was like water, flowing through her like a great torrent washing everything out of its way.

Ophelia was slammed roughly against the edge of the colosseum, falling against the ground harshly, rolling down the rocky sides and down across the sandy ground below.

Shaking this off, she rose to her feet and looked up at this new powerful opponent before her with a look of sheer disbelief mixed with an intense fascination:

"Hey that was actually pretty interesting. It feels warm...but at the same time it's also cold to the touch. I'm not sure if your awakened or anything but I'll definitely have to treat you like one now..." she said.

* * *

"Impossible...I didn't think something like this can actually happen..." Riful said, her tone torn between excitement or fright.

At this point all three warriors were at their feet, standing at the front row watching the giant ghastly statue of Teresa and Clare doing combat with Ophelia down below. Though it seemed completely lifeless, there was a organic sense to the substance, a familiar vibration oozing from it. All three of them could feel it, and to them it felt as though each figure possessed an empty shell of what they could only describe as a hollow soul. The figures towered at least three stories tall, centring around Raki like a candle to a flame, acting as an extension of his own body.

"This is the result of that experiment you had in the west? The destroyer you say?" Deneve said.

-"There's more to it than that...that's for sure, but that's probably the main reason...though I wonder just how he is able to suppress it like he does?"

"It definitely feels like a single being, though at the same time I can feel two individual auras from it as well. How weird." Helen said, scrutinize this strangeness before her.

They watched on in horror as the giant figure threw attack after attack against Ophelia, but due to its slower movements was unable to catch the warrior with any of these further attacks. Within a matter of moments, Ophelia managed to slip by its defenses and get dangerously close to raki, but the closer she got the thicker the cloud of energy condensed, and it slowed her movements down quite considerably.

Regardless, she managed to slice him across the side, his blade running through the substance as if it were water, causing both him, and the giant figure to cringe under the damage. A similar wound manifested across the figure itself, a shower of glimmering blood shooting out into the air, disintegrating by the gentle nightly winds.

Ophelia grinned shamelessly: "So the both of you feel pain when you are hurt? Or does this energy simply mimic you in every manner? Like a pet or something like that?"

He stared at her coldly, unsure about the answer to that question himself. This was all quite new to him after all. This energy that flooded around him felt strangely welcoming, but also at the same time it felt as if it was haunting his own soul. He could feel an aura from this energy, but it felt cold and barren, completely void of life that desperately latched on to his own, almost as if it wasn't even supposed to be alive.

"This is the first time I've ever done this, so I'm not very good at it yet..." he said, closing his eyes and he did his best to suppress this energy around him back into the core where it belonged.

Before long, the energy returned back around him, flooding into his skin and disappearing entirely. At last the air was no longer heavy and dense, and the welcoming breeze of the outdoors returned upon his skin.

Tightening the grip of his blade, he threw her a lingering stare: "I don't need such a thing to defeat you...I'll beat you fair like I said I would...with this own body."

"And you think that you can?" Ophelia teased.

"Yep. Either that or we're evenly matched."

He lowered his face suddenly, returning it upwards a second later. Though the energy cloud was now gone, The gentle look in his eyes was no longer humanly and his face seemed drained to the touch. His skin turned a shade darker, fringing together as though it was made of sand, forming small coherent cracks that seemed completely and utterly inhuman. His brown eyes were hijacked, forming a hellish yellow that peered hungrily at the opponent that stood before him.

Raising his sword arm again, he flooded a little more of this energy outward, doing his best to visualize a sword-like object in his hand. Remarkably, the energy snaked around his arm, condensing into a ghastly blade that seemed similar to before but actually having some weight to it. Letting go of his real Claymore, he held on to this manifested one instead. It seemed to be Composed of a denser level of yoki than before, similar in structure and strength to a metal, and would no doubt be quite effective as a sword.

Though he was exhausted, he forced himself to remain calm, and did his best to maintain this state of energy release that taxed him greatly.

"Let's see what this does..." he said, surprised by his deeper, almost demonic sounding voice that echoed more times than it should have.

"You really are so full of surprises...simply too much." Ophelia said.

"Whatever. I cannot maintain this form for much longer, so there's not much time to talk."

As soon as he commanded his body to move, it moved as fast and as silently as a shadow, dazzling towards Ophelia before she knew what was coming. She parried his attack at the last second, though finding herself unable to do the same for the second time, falling victim to a rather Nasty slice across her shoulder.

-"Amazing... Your movements are utterly ridiculous...just what exactly are you?"

Without responding to her, he went for it again, faking a strike across her front before vanishing and appearing behind her instead. Anticipating this, Ophelia threw her blade behind herself, managing a convincing defense and countering with a slice across his neck.

But he saw it coming. As though seeing the blade moving slower than it usually did, Raki ducked at an inhumane speeds, dodging the attack and causing a rush of air to hit the ground from the acceleration of his body.

"Oh I see now. Somehow you use the power of an awakened in such a small, condensed form for your own benefit...giving you such speeds normally not possible..." Ophelia said.

Kicking his feet into the sand, he charged again for her, feigning her opening swipe and ramming the back of his elbow across the side of her face. Staggering her, he appeared on her opposite end, running a knee into her centre, then finishing off by shoving her as hard as he could towards the centre of the colosseum.

Ophelia flew threw the air, Skidding across the blood red sand with intense force. Though still being flung, she managed to plant her blade into the ground to slow her acceleration, regaining her stance and planting both feet firmly on the floor, throwing him an intense stare afterwards down her weapon made in the sand.

She simply couldn't believe the incredible movements he portrayed. Such things weren't possible even for their kind. It was almost as if the his body weight a tonne, but to him it weighed nothing all, slicing through the air in a chaotic manner.

The two fell backwards against the reddened sand however, panting heavily from sheer exhaustion from the many wounds they received from each other during their incredibly long fight.

"Who would have thought you'd actually go this far? I'm still struggling to come to terms with it I must admit. But you are very interesting... How would you like to be the number three?" Ophelia said.

"I'll take that number two position. You can have number three." he said, his body reverting back to normal, eyes back to their original hazel brown nature.

Ophelia grinned hawkishly: "Hey! take it or leave it! It's clear we're both evenly matched and you've never even had a rank so I don't think you can negotiate with me!"

"well then, I suppose I'll just have to win then..." he said, shakily getting to his feet.

"So you can still go on? I like that...I really like that..."

* * *

Cassandra leant comfortably against her sword that she stabbed in the floor earlier, sitting against the harsh wooden floor as she stared at the timber lining beneath her boots. Her mind was full with conflicting imagery that ran through her like a perfect storm she just couldn't contain, or properly make sense of.

A moment ago, both Roxanne and Rubel told her the so called story of her past, and though she had many questions for them, not many were answered to her satisfaction. There was a looming feeling in the back of her mind that there was something major the two of them weren't telling her, but she simply had no basis to accuse them of any form of deception as of yet.

Her room door popped open and Roxanne suddenly poked her head in, wearing that smile that gave her the creeps for reasons she couldn't quite explain.

"Hey! There you are Cassandra! Thought you may have jumped off the ship or something! That would have been quite hysterical...I wonder if you can swim?"

-"Roxanne...what do you want?"

"what kind of a question is that? Don't you remember I was your girlfriend?." Roxanne said, helping herself into the room and throwing her an unwelcome grin.

Cassandra's turned shyly to her side, looking as though shamed to face this person: " I knew we became close, but I don't remember such a thing."

Roxanne crossed her arms delightfully: "Whether you believe me or not doesn't matter to me, but I just came here to tell you that I never loved you back...you were simply a tool for me to get stronger...but after i found out that horrendous technique of yours... I broke up with you...And that was that."

Hearing this, Cassandra stormed to her feet, stopping an inch before Roxanne, shoving her face against hers and throwing her a mean stare:

"That's just fine I don't need someone like you anyway. I always suspected it was you who was responsible for what happened with Elizabeth...you really are a whore Roxanne. You just use others for your own benefit!"

Roxanne grinned shamelessly: "Funny you say that after all those times we spent together in your favorite place by that cliffside ... do you remember that Cassandra? you simply couldn't get enough of me! You even said you loved me and everything...it was quite pathetic really..."

Cassandra's face flushed slightly, but continued on with determination: "I don't remember any of that, but I do know that I died at the hands of my own comrades. But why? What did I do to make them want to attack me?...I suspect you had something to do with it..."

"Well I think your being a little paranoid. It's as I told you before...Everyone saw your technique and because you freaked them out so much they all attacked you! Because your technique is so disgusting and pathetic, that is the cause of your death." Roxanne said with a malevolent innocence.

Cassandra cast herself to the side as she set her mind back, hitting upon a strangely pleasant memory :

"After you left me...I made a new friend didn't I?"

Roxanne stared at her oddly: " So you really are remembering more and more...interesting how your memory is by far the worst of us three. Probably because you were chopped up into little bits, but I'm no doctor..."

Ignoring her, Cassandra placed a finger upon her lips as she pondered out loud: "I can't remember her name, but I did make a friend now I remember. She was a lower rank, someone who had a kind soul who respected me for who I was. Nothing like you."

"Oh yeah that one, Roxanne giggled: "That one actually died quite a pleasant death so I wouldn't worry too much."

-"Just what...are you talking about? She died? How and what do you mean?"

Roxanne rolled her eyes as she gazed over at the exit. Though she tried quite hard to think of some excuse to keep this little mischief of hers going further, it seemed that Cassandra might actually regain all her memories and catch her out after all. She prepared herself for whatever retaliation would be thrown at her, with a hand hovering above the hilt of her blade mounted across her back.

Much to their surprise, however, a powerful thud could be heard to the side as Rafaela suddenly stood before the entrance with a deathly calm composure. Somehow, she had managed to regenerate her off hand, and entire body including all its wounds as well. Her single, deathly stare honestly sent chills down their spines, knowing deep down this was no ordinary warrior after all, quite easily at their level at or beyond theirs.

"Is there a problem here? I don't like problems..." Rafaela said, her voice chilling and concise.

"Hey there is no problem here just go away it's none of your business anyway." Roxanne said.

Rafaela looked oddly at her for a moment: "You there...I'm not sure if I should just kill you or not. Usually I don't have an opinion on these things, but for you I'll make an exception."

Cassandra blocked her off, throwing the older warrior a challenging stare: "Excuse me but she is my business so I would appreciate it if you leave us alone. I was a former number one, so there is no reason for me to submit to someone like you."

Rafaela raised a brow, though keeping her deathly stare upon Roxanne: "You actually want to protect her? How strange. But if that's how it is then that's how it is.".

-"No it's not like that..."

Roxanne suddenly wrapped herself around Cassandra's arm tightly, nibbling on the tip of her long ear playfully: "Hey Cassandra I'm your girlfriend so aren't you going to protect me or something?"

"What? Hey get off me! Roxanne! You broke up with me!" Cassandra blushed, trying to shake the other girl off her.

Rafaela sighed at this, before glancing over at Cassandra for a moment before heading for the exit.: "...control your woman and keep her away from me then. If you cannot then she is dead."

-"It's not like that Rafaela!...Roxanne she's...you see...she's..." Cassandra cried, watching hopelessly as Rafaela left the room before she could even Finnish.

With Rafaela now gone, Roxanne tightened her grip across her arm, sending a devilishly slick wink her way: "That was sooo hot the way you stood up for me Cassandra...hey wanna get back together again? Wanna do all those dirty things we did to each other like before?"

"no. I don't think I can trust you..."

"Don't be so boring Cassandra...Admit it, you can't resist me." Roxanne said with a seductive smile.

"Just what are you-"

Much to her surprise, Roxanne suddenly leant uncomfortably across her, her movements carefully calculated and sensual. A guilty pleasure flooded Cassandra as she secretly enjoyed this closeness, finding herself involuntarily wrapping a hand around Roxanne slim waist, a part of her body she couldn't help but be lost in. It was the first thing she noticed when they first met, Timid, yet incredibly curvy, slender and muscular in all the right places.

Before Cassandra could say anything, however, she was surprised when Roxanne playfully shoved her against the wall, peering downwards at her, purring almost like a kitten:

"I rocked your world Cassandra and you know it, and when we broke up you started a massacre in a jealous rampage. You just simply wanted me back so badly...it's just that simple..."

"Umm, I honestly...don't...remember...such things..."

Giggling playfully, the alluring warrior crept for the bed nearby: "Well then I suppose I'll just have to make you remember won't I?"

A drop of sweat ran down the side of Cassandra's face as she watched Roxanne lean comfortably against her bed, running her hands across the sheets in a very sensual manner. Though Cassandra tried her very best not to, she couldn't help but give in and admit to herself that she found Roxanne incredibly sexy, and though a voice in the back of her mind told her to stay away, it wasn't quite loud enough for her to hear.

* * *

so there we have it, a chapter where i tried to focus on characters i thought people would like, and also flesh out my OC skye a little as well.

what do you guys think? did you like it? please leave a review and let me know!

thanks for reading :)


	53. Chapter 53

Wrestled for a while about the direction this story would take from now on, and ultimately chose this way for reasons still unknown to me lol. The dragon kin haven't even been revealed in the manga yet, and i don't think they will be for a while so i thought its about time to involve them in this story.

i thank all my reviews and loyal readers, and i present you with this. I hope you guys iike this chapter, i thought it fits its purpose well.

please review/ leave a comment so i can improve and play with ideas!

* * *

Upon exiting Cassandra's cabin, Rafaela sighed as she walked along the cold edge of the ships exterior, her hands running across the railings and breaking the small bits of icy crystals that had began to form in the chilliness. Though this was a feeling that felt good against her skin, but all this recent dilemma as of late, however, felt like a thorn in the back of her mind, chilling her greater than any outside cold could.

Leaning across the railings, Rafaela sighed as she looked down at the abyss of the ocean, a sight that was of reminiscence of her own sea of thoughts. She tried to fathom the thought of Teresa defiantly standing amongst the living once again, but her mind struggled to cope with the idea. Perhaps it was the guilt of past actions, or the fear of retaliation that corrupted her mind and made her think in such a way. What she did to Teresa was something she couldn't justify to her, and she wouldn't blame Teresa for holding a grudge after all this time, or worst.

Though it was true that she had left Teresa back then, she had not forgotten her through the years. Rafaela was sure to keep track of her incredible progress secretly in the background, and, as the months went by, she watched on hopelessly as Teresa's strength grew to a level she didn't think was possible, and far beyond even this. Though Rafaela wasn't absolutely certain about it, she had her suspicions that Teresa may well be the strongest Claymore to ever have lived.

Rafaela knew the organization would soon realize this, and hurry to do something about it after a few couple years of service. But she wasn't worried, she knew Teresa would be strong enough to survive any retaliation they would throw at her. But the moment she was introduced to Priscilla,however, a strange looming feeling came from her gut. The girl was incredibly powerful, but whether she could surpass Teresa was uncertain at the time. What she was sure of, however, was the fact that both of them possessed a power that was far beyond what which would some consider abyssal level.

Rafaela did not listen to her instincts back then, and as a result, she orchestrated the one who was to end Teresa of the faint smile.

Hearing the sound of voices to her side, Rafaela broke her trail of thought as she headed closer towards the source. Arriving at the front of the ship, she noticed Luciela sitting comfortably against a wooden stool, arms crossed as she watched two weaker warriors holding themselves in a handstand before her. Both of their arms shook from intensity, panting from exhaustion under the forced regime of their abyssal master.

At odds with this, Rafaela moved towards her estranged sister, who greeted her with a friendly smile, almost jumping off her stool.

"Hey there Rafaela. I made them do handstands! Look how they listen to me...so appropriate..." she said.

Rafaela looked over sympathetically at the two lower ranked warriors that were being tormented for hours now. At first it was a simple workout, but now it's just gone too far. Luciela always had a sadistic side, even as a human, but Rafaela didn't appreciate anyone abusing others like this, especially when their suffering was so clear to anyone with a conscience.

"Luciela... I don't think you're helping them by pushing them this far. Let them go." Rafaela said.

Hearing this, One of the exhausted warriors looked as though they tried to end their balancing act, attempting to lower her feet down but quickly frightened back up by Luciela's pestering tone:

-"Hey! I didn't say to stop! Did you hear me say stop? We're supposed to be superior creatures to humans, but look at you guys, a complete disgrace to your kind."

"Are you deliberately ignoring me?" Rafaela said.

The awakened threw her a curious grin: "Do you remember... when the two of us would compete for hours at this? Usually I would win, but after all that, both our arms would hurt like hell. It was worth it though, because the two of us motivated each other to go just that bit further. I'm sure you remember that Rafaela, don't tell me you don't. I know it was a long time ago but I still remember."

"We were ranks two and one respectively," Rafaela shot back: "these warriors are numbers thirty and below..."

Luciela sighed gently, rolling her eyes annoying over to the side. She knew Rafaela was right, but found herself enjoying watching these warriors struggle under her brutal regimes. Though they did pretty poorly by her standards, she was aware they were on the verge of collapse, and should probably cut them some slack. She turned over annoyingly to her two captives and sighed:

"Fine...You may leave now,": she said, disappointment clear on her voice: " but don't feel the need to thank me, so just run along now and don't even look back."

The two exhausted warriors collapsed to the floor, panting heavily as they struggled to catch their breath. Picking themselves up, they grabbed their gear and hastily left down towards the centre of the ship, exchanging thankful nods at Rafaela before leaving in silence.

Watching them as they turned a corner and disappeared from the ships windy bow, Luciela sat up and walked towards the very front. She leant across the edge of the railings, and looked back at her sister with a curious stare as she rested her arms across the sides casually:

"What's wrong Rafaela you seem a little distracted?"

"It's nothing..."

Luciela smiled deviously at her: "Nothing huh? Well I certainly don't believe that...if you would only just awaken...all your worries would go away, I guarantee it."

"Not with this again..."

"I still don't understand why you don't awaken even after I explained to you how great it is...don't you believe me sister?. I don't want to hurt you, I only want what's best for you, you know that."

Rafaela sighed as she glared into the abyss of her sisters deceptively humanly-looking eyes. It was saddening to see her beloved sister seduced by the retched yoma side, but even so, it was clear that there were still traces of her humanity no doubt remaining, and it was this which she found herself clinging on to.

"I told you not to talk about that again," Rafaela insisted strongly: "you know that I wish to die as a human just as we both should have back then."

Luciela sighed as she looked up at the stars, seemingly lost to her own crazed ideals : "You know...At first you develop an intense hunger for human guts... and after your first meal, you feel oh so satisfied it's difficult to put it in words..but then you open your eyes to the truth of this cruel and sad world..."

Rafaela leered coldly at her:"...The existence of your kind and the yoma are what makes it cruel..."

Laughing at this, Luciela replied delightfully : "Funny you say that after you supported the very organization that created this mess in the first place. Besides, this world is only cruel and sad for humans... but why should we care? Humans don't care about us. they know that we are the superior predators in the end, so it's only natural they fear us. We are faster, stronger and smarter than they are."

Rafaela was lost for words as she thought on these familiar words. For many years she had asked herself the same philosophical questions, but came to the same conclusion that she wished to Preserve a world where humans could one day live in peace without the threat of yoma and awakened ones.

"but don't you...feel disgusted? Feasting on human guts...it's something you wouldn't even dream of doing when we were both together back then."

"...how can you feel disgusted by something that smells and tastes so good?" Luciela said with an intense state and a chillingly eerie smile: "to munch on that delicate raw flesh and and slurp down the innards...quite delicious actually you'd be surprised...but I should stop talking about food because just the very thought of it can make me go crazy."

With a brow raised, a scrutinizing Rafaela added: " you've become the very thing the two of us fought so hard against. Don't you ever think about that?"

Luciela paused for a moment, that alluring smile still creeping across her as she replied: "...Remember when I first awakened? It was such a nice day with no clouds in sight, not too windy or anything like that either. But just as I was beginning to enjoy myself, the others raised their blades against me! And...so did you Rafaela! You chose an organization over your own sister!"

-"Don't spin this Luciela..."

"...but...it's like this..." the abyssal one said, her tone slowing with a heartening smile across her: "because your my younger sister I forgive you... alright? but don't do such a thing again you must promise or I'll never forgive you!"

Moving her hand across her face, Rafaela slid her fingers across the scar across her eye that she had kept as an eternal reminder of her failure as a sister. The guilt in her heart grew ever stronger as she set her mind back to that dreaded time of her sisters' awakening. The two had fought a mighty battle back then, and after she lost an eye in mid battle, immediately her awakened sister stopped in a panic, backing off with her head crouched low towards the ground. At the time Rafaela merely took this as a sign of arrogance, but only now did she realize that it was a true sign of empathy instead. Luciela could have killed her back then, but instead, she simply moved away from the organization, towards the land of the south, leaving behind the many dead bodies and ruins in her wake.

Luciela cocked her face to the side as she added curiously: "Hey, by the way...that scar across your eye...how did that happen?"

"Its a wound from a battle long ago..."

"Did I do that? No, It couldn't have been me as I'm certain you could have regenerated easily from that time," Luciela said curiously.

"No...its unrelated..." Rafaela lied.

-"well it would be healed the moment you go over your limit...and awaken."

"ill think about it," Rafaela said: " but Even if I was to awaken, I would probably sink this ship anyway. So first things first...take that pill Rubel gave you... I can already confirm that Isley has already taken his so you have nothing to worry about."

-"Oh I know...I've been thinking whether I should take this opportunity to just kill him now or not...but he's been with that woman for so long it's maddening," Luciela said, then slowing her tone to a soft irritated moan:"...I think I may be a little jealous actually...but keep that between you and I If you don't mind..."

"It was told you guys only care about eating and sleeping." Rafaela smirked.

-" eating and sleeping are our main activities, but we're also free to do whatever we want, whenever we want. The best part of it all actually, is that there's no one to stop you. I controlled all of the southern Lands so basically I became a god down there..."

"that...Sounds delightful..."

With a sadistic smirk, Luciela added: "but this claymore...This Galatea...Who does she think she is? And Why would Isley chose her over me?"

Rafaela raised a brow :"I thought you disliked him ever since he defeated you back then."

-"Of course I do! I despise him!'" Luciela said, rolling her eyes over with a wicked malevolence: "That doesn't mean i don't desire him though, don't be so naive. Or perhaps I should just kill him now while he's weakened...if you help me he won't stand a chance..."

"I will not participate in your jealous revenge fantasies..."

"Fine then! Whatever! I didn't think you would anyway," Luciela said angrily, crossing her arms as she leant across the wooden porch to look away in disgust. A moment of silence ensued as the two thought to themselves for a moment, until she raised herself throwing Rafaela a strange glare:

"...Oh I get it you want him too?"

Rafaela signed: "I didn't say anything like that..."

" Well that's fine if you want him too then we can just share him. But I get him first though...or we could go at the same time? Up to you really. You've always been the shy type, but I've never cared much for such things, you know me."

Rafalea leant comfortably across the railings, next to her sister with a hidden smile behind her face. She enjoyed moments like this, the way they used to be a very long time ago. During her claymore days, Luciela was always the cheeky type, and it was this side of her that Rafaela found to be endlessly amusing. Whenever yoma weren't about, Luciela's eyes at times wondered over towards young human men amongst the towns they would sometimes pass by. She would flirt and tease with them in small discrete ways, taking delight in the horrified looks they would exchange back at her.

For too long had she been departed from her dear sister, however, and Rafaela was determined to enjoy this reunion for as long as was possible.

"So tell me more about...being the queen of the south," Rafaela smiled: "A life of eating and sleeping doesn't actually sound that bad.."

Luciela smiled back: "It's such a long story it would take a very long time to explain it all!"

"We've got an entire night to talk, and I don't think i can sleep."

* * *

Standing amongst the break of dawn, Teresa stood alone at the far end of the giant training fields, marveling at the rising sun that had began to rise from behind the great mountains off in the distance. The warming touch of its rays dispersing through the clouds, growing ever brighter. The harsh shades of the distant Colosseum vanished as the light fell upon the land, the grande scope of the city much clearer. It was quite similar to Rabona in structure, however this place was a fortress, a half city half military stronghold.

Their section composed mainly of these training fields and the soldier barracks, while the other human portion of the city contained skyscrapers and other capitalistic structures. The place was in pristine condition, looking as if it's never actually seen the frontline of combat in this so called war against the dragonkin. But to Teresa this was understandable as the city had the protection of hundreds of Claymores at its disposal , super beings who would defend it until their last breath. This protection seemed to have worked quite well this far, as it was obvious it would be a major target for an enemies to attack.

A while ago, she felt a strangely familiar aura coming from the direction of the colosseum and went to investigate only to see something very interesting when she arrived. Standing unnoticed in the shadows, Teresa quietly observed Both Helen and Deneve talking amongst themselves with none other than riful, watching Raki and Ophelia doing battle in the centre.

She cringed a little at the ugly sight of cuts and sears across their bodies as they fought like maniacs trying to kill each other. After a while she found herself concerned for Raki, The wounds he sustained on him thus far weren't exactly fatal, but that limit was fast approaching, even for a brawny man like him.

_What would Clare do in such a situation?_

_Should I intervene?_

She watched the battle for a while longer, but as it dragged on, the gruesomeness simply stained her eyes far too much, and decided she simply didn't feel to watch anymore. Both of them seemed willing enough to fight until they dropped, and there was nothing she could do to change that. Besides, Helen and Deneve would no doubt have Raki's best interest in mind anyway, so there was no reason for her to stick around for much longer.

Teresa tried to get some sleep afterwards, but once again found herself unable to do so. There was quite a bit of chaos happening lately, and her mind was simply preoccupied with too many things. Sleep wasn't something she needed all that badly anyway, as lately, she had been doing quite a bit of that as of late. The incident of Rabona was now days behind, and she had no doubt that now she was already at full strength, and sleep at such a time would merely act as an opportunity for someone to catch her off guard, something she would never allow to happen again.

Before she met Clare, she was never suspect of such paranoia, but now that she had something else to protect besides herself, she couldn't afford to fall victim to such ignorance like she did with Priscilla.

As she thought on this, Teresa suddenly heard suspicious sounds over at her side, towards the direction of a bundle of crates nearby. Looking over curiously, she could not see, nor sense anything at all however, and wasn't quite sure what o think of it. It was a suspicious inconsistency she thought.

Teresa took slow steps towards the bundle of crates, her eyes running carefully through and around the shadows they bore. Her instincts told her to prepare for anything, and her instincts have always even right in the past. Sliding her hand up towards her hilt of her sword, Teresa thought she could sense something nearby, but wasn't quite sure if it was only her imagination or not.

Her heart froze however, when something emerged out from the shadows, a dark figure lunging towards her in an ambush.

"bam and your head's gone!" the shadowy figure laughed, revealing the glow of a blade that threatened to cut her down.

_Just what?_

Moving like thunder, Teresa avoided the incoming attack by moving off to the side, but the moment she did, her attacker already produced a counter attack with the other end of the spear racing for her back.

_Damn he's fast_

Teresa ducked at the last moment, hearing the soaring howl of a sharp blade grazing above her head. From the corner of her eye she could see strands of her hair feather down towards the ground, the blade severing them in a cut that seemed too close for comfort. As fast as she was, it appeared she wasn't quite fast enough to save all of herself.

Reaching for her claymore, Teresa unsheathed her weapon from her back, moved around him, and in a quick slice, slashed across her opponent cunningly. Unsurprisingly, the attacker managed to dodge the initial attack, But a second and third from Teresa sliced the weapon in three pieces, causing the shadowy figure to stagger back momentarily and drop his broken weapon to the ground.

Seeing an opportunity, Teresa rammed her boot hard into his chest, slamming him against the nearby crates with punishing force, no doubt causing a few cracked ribs in the process. The crates cringed and splinters erupted outwards from the impact, making a sound that was much louder than she was comfortable with at such a time of day when most others slept.

Looking upon his face closely, she recognized the face of Marcus through the faded light of the early sunlight. Marching towards him annoyingly, she pointed the sharp tip of her blade against his chest, pinning him against the damaged crate behind him.

With a faint smile Teresa said: "Just what did you say earlier?"

"What? well, it was just supposed to alert you to my incoming attack obviously...besides, I wasn't actually going to cut off your head, lady..."

Irritated, Teresa pressed her blade punishingly against his chest, the sharp tip tearing through a good portion of his muscle and causing a steady stream of blood to flow outwards and drench the sand beneath his feet. The pain she caused this man pleased her ever so slightly, but Teresa didn't appreciate being ambushed in such a manner, and felt no sympathy for him as a result.

"Im only about an inch from your heart , so you should chose your words a little more carefully from now on. And by the way, whatever good impression you think you've made so far...you just ruined it with this." she said coldly.

"Hey I was only testing you, so there's no need to actually kill me.."Marcus said, staring down the edge of her blade that dug into his chest, then up towards this beautiful, though rather frightening woman, taking especial notice of that distinct faint smile that oozed of pure ruthlessness.

"...what made you attempt such a thing? Who wants me dead? "" Teresa demanded, poking her weapon just a little deeper to make her displeasure clear.

"Lady, I didn't try to kill you..."

"Don't play games with me. I won't ask again." Teresa warned, her stare deathly.

"my weapon was only wooden with harmless tips, very difficult to kill somebody with such a thing. Have a look yourself," he said, staring at the direction of his downed weapon.

Intrigued by his words, she looked over to her side and noticed the snapped weapon he had dropped behind earlier laying across the ground a small distance away. Studying it closer, she could see that Indeed he was right, there were no sharp blades across the ends. it was completely harmless, a mere training tool probably made from a broom and not a dangerous weapon in the least. Surprised at this, she then tried to locate the strands of her hair that she swore were cut off earlier, but also could find no trace of them either.

_I guess it's all in my head..._

_Perhaps I should have slept a little..._

Setting her sights back upon Marcus, she could see the man throwing her a sleek smile from down there, even though sharp steel bit into his chest. She admired his willpower, and apparent immunity to pain, but knew that if he proved to be an enemy then he was as good as dead.

"my apologies if you thought otherwise...but that's just how I properly introduce myself," he said: " I was merely testing your reaction time and technique, and it seems...you've passed..."

Teresa raised a brow at this: "You can call it whatever you want, but to me its nothing but a cowardly attack, so you have about ten seconds to tell me why I shouldn't just kill you."

"Oh wow you'd really kill me? So ruthless...you are.".

"five...four...three..."

"perhaps we could be friends?..." he said at the very last moment.

Teresa stared at him strangely for a moment longer, scrutinizing this annoying man before her. She let out a short sigh as she withdrew her blade from his chest, and took a step backwards, watching coldly as he coughed out bits of red, recovering from the ordeal and getting to his feet afterwards.

"Wow seriously? Friends? ...You're cute." Teresa said with a playful sarcasm, her glare set hawkishly upon him.

He shot her a distasteful smile: "even if we can't be friends, there's many things I know that you would probably want to know, so I'm more valuable to you alive than dead."

"I'm listening..." Teresa said.

As she waited for an answer, a sudden foreign yoki aura nearby shot her attention, alerting the presence of single warrior that rapidly headed towards them. Teresa smiled serenely the moment she identified who it was, and simply took a couple steps back to observe the amusement of what was about to unfold.

It wasn't long until Marcus noticed this too, the man taking slightly longer to do so that she suspected however, but her standards were always quite high in his defense. Priscilla arrived at the scene quietly alongside Teresa, wielding her weapon and staring with a dangerous suspicion at this man.

"Teresa! What's going on! I heard sounds and I made it here as fast as I could..." Priscilla said concretely.

The wavy haired warrior sighed with a gentle annoyance: "you know I don't need your help, so why are you here?"

"Irene told me that you were unfit for battle."

Teresa cocked an irritated brow at this: "Really? What else did Irene say..."

"It's nothing you should know. I only told you that because I simply want to be of use to you. By the look of things, it looks like you desire to kill him, so let me do it for you, I have no problem killing an enemy. I knew all along he wasn't one of us..."

"fine, whatever, kill him, I don't care. I think it's Irene that i might actually want to kill." Teresa said.

"...Such young pretty girls made into monsters...such a shame..." Marcus said, sending a mischievous wink Teresa's way afterwards.

Taking notice of his eye contact, Priscilla turned over at the rather emotionless wavy haired warrior beside her, who merely stood with her arms crossed, eyes staring coldly back at him as though it was not warranted.

Reaching along the side of a nearby crate, Marcus reached into a compartment, revealing a hidden spear, it's blades shimmering with razor sharp tips across them -a double sided sword. Priscilla cringed ever so slightly at the sight of the weapon, Teresa had noticed. And rightly so, because if that man's skills with a broom translate to double sided spears then he may prove to be a cunning foe.

"Hid this there just incase something like this happens," he said as he swayed his double edged spear skillfully; "lucky i prepare for such occasions. Always have a plan B. its Very important to survive I've noticed."

"why are you attacking Teresa? Explain yourself!" Priscilla yelled, raising her blade with a clear determination to kill, ones that seemed so familiar to Teresa once before.

"I was only testing her combat skills and didn't want to kill anyone. Besides, who exactly are you?"

Priscilla nodded fearlessly: "forgive my rudeness, my name is Priscilla, two being my former number."

"Only a number two huh? Number two's are always so boring, it's the number ones that are interesting."

"Now your the one being rude here. But regardless, I'll just have to kill you for the sake of Teresa and the others. Someone like you cannot be trusted, and would be better off dead. "

"Your logic isn't flawed, I'll give you that much. But to me, you don't seem too impressive..." Marcus said.

"that's alright, it will only make your defeat the more satisfying."

"...your enjoying this, aren't you Teresa?" Marcus said' glancing mischievously at the wavy haired warrior who stood so silently a short ways away, noticing the smallest of smirks across her gentle face.

"Your lucky...we didn't meet a few days ago. I would have ripped off your limbs and feasted on your guts, that is, if you guys even taste any good. But don't hate me for it, it's only in my nature..." Priscilla said.

"so your one of those awakened? I get it..."

"it's complicated, no time to explain. You will die by the hand of the strongest Claymore..." Priscilla said proudly, sparing a challenging glance over at the wavy haired warrior.

_Strongest claymore? We'll see about that... _Teresa thought to herself.

Teresa found herself terribly interested in what was to come about now that Priscilla was used to her former Claymore body. Priscilla was a talent after all, and her recent fight with Clare among other things would have only made her stronger than last time. Their first fight all those years ago was probably the first real fight Priscilla's ever been in, but now the girl had more experience, undoubtedly even more than herself, and could pose a larger threat than she initially thought.

Marcus sighed: "You know, I've never met anyone as strong as you guys for about a century, so I'm terribly interested in the both of you. But if your so determined to kill me, then lets move this to the colosseum shall we? It will be quite a spectacle, a fight to the death to the cheer of the crowd. The strongest Claymore against the strongest amongst my kind, I think that's a fair fight. No doubt we'll draw a crowd in no time."

Teresa's mind lit the moment she heard those words, scrutinizing him closer than ever before. If he truly was the most powerful of the dragonkin, then this fight could get serious after all. She wasn't sure if the dragonkin could summon energies similar to yoki to aid them in battle, but she was determined to find this out. Perhaps with observation with him fighting Priscilla she may uncover his secrets, and make proper analysis about his potential threat and strength in comparison to her own.

Teresa sighed as she rolled her eyes over to the direction of the barracks where most including Clare slept in a far distance away. She could sense that a few of the others have already wakened from their sleep, and the sun was now rising at a rapid pace that signaled the end of dawn. Miria and the others were sure to arrive soon, and this situation just might end up being more amusing that she had initially thought it to be.

* * *

Assembled amongst the very front of the ship, Audrey, along with most of the others stood to marvel at the ever approaching landmass that was off in the distance. Between the Cliff sides, there appeared to be some sort of a settlement, or city perhaps which was likely the place where Teresa and the rebels resided. The morning has just started, and already there was a looming feeling in their minds that they should be prepared for anything.

Roxanne and Cassandra seemed to avoid each other for most of the morning, the two standing amongst opposite ends with their arms crossed, often leering at the other questionably. Audrey wasn't quite sure what was going on between them, but whatever it was, it was definitely not something she wanted to get involved in. Hysteria stood proudly at the very front of the ship, insisting this to be her spot saying it had the best view. Nobody really argued with her, because it was something that wasn't worth fighting for many, and hysteria proved to be the epitome of stubbornness and always got what she wanted.

Miata seemed to have recovered from her wounds rather quickly, finally feeling brave enough to stand along the edge to gaze outwards herself, though having to grasp on to Clarice's hand like a desperate animal terrified of the water.

Next to her, Galatea and Isley stood close to each other, the two not seeming to care for all the strange stares they warranted. The man seemed quite fond of Galatea, standing so defensively by her side marveling at both the mainland and seemingly at her equally. A lot of the other girls, especially Anastasia and Dietrich, seemed a little jealous that Galatea grabbed Isley all for herself, having eyes of contempt for the former number three.

Audrey sighed as she looked upon the two men, Rubel and Orsay in the middle of the deck. Last night the three of them had a long chat about what was to happen with Raftella, making it very clear that her power will go to the rebels and no longer to the organization. Rubel respectfully agreed on the condition that she must be his personal bodyguard, a request she thought was quite strange. She wasn't thrilled with the idea of protecting him, but it also gave her an opportunity to closely monitor his activities, and she couldn't say no to such a thing. Of course, this was probably his desperate solution to avoid death by her blade, but it was a solution they were both satisfied with in the end.

_If he does anything wrong I'll just kill him anyway..._

_He could still be useful..._

Eventually, she ship came to a stop amongst a dock, guarded by a pair of guards in heavy chain mail armor, their faces hidden behind their iron masks. Both seemed to be hybrid warriors, wearing black chain mail armor and wielding a Claymore in right hand.

"They will ask you to relieve your weapons just so your all aware..." Rubel said, glaring especially at the three resurrected ones than assembled before him.

Cutting the rope and Releasing the platform upon the dock, Roxanne glanced over questionably the other two, knowing for sure that such a thing wouldn't be something especially Hysteria would probably be doing.

"I'm going first, move it," Hysteria said, shoving Cassandra away as she headed down towards the less than friendly looking guards.

"relieve all weapons and place them on the ground before you." one of guards said.

Roxanne and Cassandra followed on down, watching closely as Hysteria stubbornly trotted onwards, seemingly ignoring the guards. They spoke something amongst themselves, them drew their blades at this incoming threat.

"Relieve them now or we will be forced to end your life. Comply now."

"We can't have that now," Hysteria said, Throwing her hand over a shoulder to grasp at her weapons hilt.

"Drop the weapon now!" the other yelled, soundly much less confident than his comrade.

In a flash, Hysteria vanished into the wind, rapidly slashing by them both and appearing unscathed behind their backs with a blood soaked weapon. They fell to their knees, their chests burst open by slash marks , dropping to the ground in a shower of blood.

Roxanne grinned delightfully: "Elegant suits you perfectly might i just say, that could almost pass for art."

"I don't think you should have killed them, they were only doing their jobs." Cassandra said.

Hysteria sighed: "Like I care about that. They were in my way and now they're not. I'm only here for Teresa and Phantom Miria and that's all."

* * *

Miria stood outside the barracks, her gaze like a hawk at the distant colosseum, wondering just what was going on. It was the break of dawn, and both Teresa and Priscilla, as well as Riful, Helen Deneve and Raki were missing entirely, their location unknown to her currently. The presence of yoki from the huge structure up ahead, however, was surely the disruption where she would find them find her answers.

She made sure Clare and everything else was alright before picking up her gear and heading for the colosseum, moving by the surprisingly lightly guarded establishment in innovative ways through its streets. Moving from building to building, she noticed something up ahead, and could see three previously unknown warriors heading for the same direction down in the streets below.

Curious about this, she lowered her yoki to unsensable levels, following them closely and as silently as a phantom along rooftops of the building they passed by. Observing the group, The one at the centre immediately caught Miria's eye. She was the tallest, the most proud, and most beautiful of the three. Her hair was long an silky, with four distinct braids tied along the sides. Her gaze sharp and powerful, a perfect indication that she was nothing but trouble.

Miria's heart skipped when she miscalculated her footing and tumbled down below, landing right before them in a move she otherwise regretted. The three stopped in their tracks, looking curiously upon this warrior that suddenly appeared before them. She exchanged eye contact with Hysteria, the Elegant warrior throwing her an odd stare:

"hey you!" Hysteria said, her voice calm yet demanding: "which way to Teresa and Phantom Miria?"

_What? Why would she want to find me and Teresa?..._

_I've never met her before..._

_Just who is this?_

Hysteria's face stiffened slightly, a look of annoyance setting across her soft features. In a split second, she sped before Miria intending to end her with a slice across the chest, but was surprised to feel the parry of her blade instead.

Hysteria smirked: "I hate being ignored, but oh my you are so much better than the guards around this place...surely you must have a name?"

Miria swallowed the lump in her throat: "As must you..."

Smiling at her, the braided warrior replied: "Hysteria's my name."

_No way..._

_Hysteria the Elegent? Responsible for the rockwell hill massacre..._

_Then the other two behind her must also be... Former first ranking warriors brought back from the dead..._

"Careful now, my patience has its limits," Hysteria said.

Miria put an end to her thoughts, raising on a confident face:

"My names Hilda. Pleased to meet you." she lied.

-"pleasantries are not necessary. Where is Teresa and Miria?"

"I haven't heard of them. No idea, sorry."

Hysteria sheathed her blade suddenly, seemingly satisfied with the answer: "that's all I wanted to know, so I guess I'll keep heading towards that large circular building. I sense something's going on there now."

Roxanne looked over accusingly at Miria, scrutinising her closely and throwing her comrade a challenging stare: "just like that you believe her? it's obvious she's lying...she knows them..."

Miria could see Hysteria exchanging Roxanne an annoyed look, but then almost immediately turned back to Miria and bit her lip deliciously as she gazed at her.

"do try to stay alive." Hysteria said, sending her a wink before turning over.

Miria remained frozen lipped as the three then left her, unable to keep her mind from fathoming what just happened. Her heart raced ever so much faster from that encounter, and she wasn't entirely sure if it was due to fear alone.

Hysteria no doubt was someone trouble, and by the sound of things, Teresa was soon to be under attack, and this was something Miria just couldn't just allow just yet.

* * *

I felt a little creative when writing this chapter so forgive the randomness if you encounter any. next chapter will be the encounter between the three resurrected ones and Teresa so stay tuned and thanks for reading.


	54. Chapter 54

Finally finished this chapter and have to say that i'm pretty happy with how it ended up. I've taken the advice of a few of my reviewers and tried to balance the story a little while maintaining all the different characters. Though there's a lot going on i don't necessarily think it's a bad thing, though i do admit it has been a tad bit challenging keeping this story consistent lol.

always enjoy! and please fav this story and leave a review!

* * *

The day had only begun and already the colosseum was quickly drawing large crowds to marvel at Priscilla and Marcus in the center, the two engaged in a battle of savage proportions. Their metallic blades clashed loudly, sending thunderous sounds that echoed chillingly around the dome structure that rumbled theground beneath their feet with powerful tremors. Among the crowds that gathered, guards and regulators were among them, their senses focused entirely on this seemingly dangerous, yet impressive battle between these two powerful individuals in the centre of the colloseum. By the look of things, it appeared as though much of the security of the entire facility had now been drawn to this commotion, and with such large crowds gathered, there was little doubt things were to get interesting in no time.

Standing down in the battlefield near the two, Teresa's boots dug into the rough sand in the ground as she observed the battle before her patiently. Both Marcus and Priscilla were incredibly impressive in their own right, and by the look of things, it seemed they were able to keep up with each other quite well so far.

A sudden gust of wind from one of their powerful strikes blew red dust across Teresa's face, irritating her eyes and obscuring her vision for only a moment. But such a thing didn't bother her. Much of the information she received wasn't visual anyway.

_From my analysis..._

_Priscilla seems to be holding back a little..._

_Can't say the same for Marcus. I cannot sense a thing from him._

_I wonder who will win?_

"Teresa...what's going on here?" A familiar voice said from behind her.

Without turning around, Teresa recognized the familiar aura of Irene approaching her from behind. A few other regulators followed her closely as well, the sound of their armor distinctive as they arrived beside her, their gazes frozen ahead.

"About time you showed up. Some number one you are..." Teresa said mockingly.

"You were much the same if I remember correctly, always arriving fashionably late." Irene snorted.

One of the male regulators next to Irene removed their dark metallic helmet, turning over to his superior with a look of concern across his scar riddled face:

-"Irene...what are your orders? this battle is unscheduled and seems to be getting out of hand...should we prepare an execution squad?"

Irene remained silent for a moment as she analysed the situation before her. There was no doubt that Priscilla was amongst the strongest of their kind, and any fight that involved her was interesting indeed. Even Teresa herself seemed intrigued by it, and that in itself was a big deal. Teresa never seemed to be intrigued by much if she remembered correctly.

She turned over to him: "Not necessary. The crowds seem to be enjoying the fight reguardless if it's schedueled or not. Let's just observe for now... Secure the perimiter."

-"Understood."

With a nod, the regulator made a hand gesture to the others, then quickly, they all scattered outwards, leaving the two former comrades alone to themselves.

Teresa smiled tenderly over at her: "Ordering others around like that...it seems to me that it's actually you, not I, who's unfit for battle..."

"Oh so you've heard? Well, does the truth upset you? Teresa?" Irene smirked.

The wavy haired warrior looked over at her chillingly: "Do you wish to test me? old friend?"

"The last time we met, Teresa, was well over a decade ago...and I've grown much stronger since back then."

Teresa smiled softly:"Oh? so strong that you think you can defeat me?"

-"Time and time again you have surpassed my expectations, Teresa, but even you might find it difficult to keep that perfect track record after all this time."

"I suppose it's a little inconvenient to have been dead for over a decade...Perhaps you're right, perhaps I should sharpen my skills every so often."

Irene smirked proudly: "But reguardless, i'm relieved to have you by my side once more."

"Is that so?" Teresa asked curiously.

"Yes. Wherever Teresa of the faint smile was assigned, her fellow comrades would end up unharmed, and the following mission was to be a guaranteed success. Now that you're back, I suddenly realize just how much I missed having somebody as annoying as you."

Teresa raised a brow in suspicion: "I'm not sure whether to feel flattered or insulted."

Irene grinned in accordance: "Take it however you like. But the truth is that i'm glad to have you by my side again, old friend."

Teresa wasn't sure how to respond to such praise from her former comrade. Though she felt a little flattered by Irene's words, at the same time, she still found it difficult to trust anyone, especially after what happened with Priscilla. Trust was something she found quite foreign to her as of late, with even the closest person in her heart not excluded from her list.

Up ahead, Priscilla had already began to release her yoma powers, her movements and strength increasing to unpresidented levels, no doubt giving Marcus one hell of a battle to keep up with. The deathly silence of the crowds had now erupted into bright applaus and cheers, the excitement clear in the atmosphere around them.

"It looks like Priscilla just may need some assistance...at this rate she'll probably get herself killed." Teresa said.

"If that happens then so be it," Irene said: "Do not forget that Priscilla is an awakened one. She is no longer one of us. If she does end up killed then perhaps it's for the best."

Teresa turned a questionable look Irene's way, suprised at this bold response from her former comrade: "Well that girl is just too stuborn to die... but I wonder what will you do if that pill wares off and she ends up awakening? Surely you must know that no matter how many guards you throw her way she will never be defeated..."

"Priscilla is a monster, quite possibly the strongest amongst all with the possible exception of you, but even she would find survival quite difficult in this place." Irene smirked.

"You underestimate Priscilla. You really think you or these guards will make a difference?"

-"I know her power very well," Irene said, looking over grimly at her missing left arm: "I've witnessed it first hand. I do hope that situation does not happen, but if it does occur then like every other awakened one she will be exterminated."

* * *

The three resurected ones had already left for the Collosem up ahead, and already Rafaela had a looming feeling in the back of her mind. At that centre of that giant structure up ahead there was no doubt something interesting going on, as evident by the impressive yoki in the wind, and the earthshattering impacts that could be felt all the way down here even at the docks.

Rafaela wasn't sure if Teresa was responsible for all this, but given the magnitude of the powers involved, the possibility was quite likely indeed. There weren't many others who she considered to be in the same league as Teresa after all, with the only exception being perhaps Priscilla herself, the former number two whom she had trained to execute Teresa of the Faint Smile a very long time ago.

A moment ago, Audrey had left with Rubel someplace, the two insisting they had some sort of a deal going on. When asked about it, Audey would simply say there was nothing to worry about, and had assured her along with everyone else that she would keep a close eye on him and wouldn't let the man get away with anything sinister. Rubel was a powerful man within the organisation after all, and there was no doubt that he could be used for their great benefit. Galatea and the others seemed to trust Audrey somewhat, and there was little reason to doubt them after all.

Over to Rafaela's side, Luciela, along with the rest of the current warriors including Galatea stood closeby, their attention caught ahead as well. She found herself marvelling at the sight of her sister's now faded blonde hair, and eyes just the same as hers. Isley, however, had his attention somewhere else entirely, eyeing the mountains off to the distance instead. Like Luciela, he had also taken the pill from Rubel back on the ship, and would probably fool most that he was a warrior just like everyone else, but whether he would stay in such a way was something debatable.

Rafaela turned over to her former comrade: "Galatea, i'll leave you in charge of taking care of the lower ranks among us, but first, tell me, just what is expected up ahead?"

"It appears as if Priscilla is doing battle against something with no aura whatsoever...strange...must be one of those dragonkin." Galatea said, warranting odd stares of the group her way.

Rafaela's eyes widened when she heard that name, disbeleif plastered across her shocked expression. She only recently accepted the fact that Teresa had been revived, but now Priscilla was involved in all this too? This was a situation that took her by surpise, but given recent events, something like this should have been expected anyway.

"You failed to mention that Priscilla was among the rebels..." Rafaela said, her face sinking.

"So even you know her too? Is that going to be a problem?" Isley smirked.

Rafaela stared coldly at this man, looking back at Galatea a moment later: " I just find it surprising that's all..."

"It also appears as if she's taken that pill and temporarily reverted back to one of us...though at this pace, it appears as if she may awaken at any moment." Galatea added.

"Is that so?" Rafaela said: "Well, we're here to rendevues with the rest of the rebels, so if such problems arise we can deal with them better then."

Luciela stepped forward, a delightful smirk across her lips: "Enough talk...If we don't hurry, I fear those three ressurected ones will have all the fun..."

Rafaeala looked at her impatient sister for a moment, then turned towards Raftella who shot her a curious look in response.

"Raftella... that is your name is that right?" Rafaela said to the younger, timid warrior.

"That's right..."

"You have a most interesting and most valuable technique...Audrey asked me personally to look after you but it's not like I wasn't going to anyway. I need you to do exactly as I say from now on. Do you understand?"

Raftella nodded at this, though looking clearly nervous about this situation they all found themselves in. There was a lot of uncertaintanty in this place, and Rafaela didn't blame her among anyone else for feeling that way. Among the powerful warriors gathered here, there was also the issue of an alien race of beings known as the dragonkin that they may have to deal with in the not so distant future.

"Alright then, let's not waste any more time..."

* * *

Miria, along with the rest of her comrades including Raki and Ophelia, entered the side of the busy colloseum, moving up towards the highest observation platform that was thankfully devoid of any pesky observers. A moment ago, she had raced back to gather everyone she could, knowing for sure that these three ressurected ones she met earlier were up to no good. For reasons unknown to her, they seemed to be looking specifically for her and Teresa, and this was quite a disturbing prospect.

Far down in the Colloseum's battefield below, the group watched curiously as Priscilla and Marcus fought in the centre, their attention flicking wildly between them and the crowds, hoping to find the three warriors Miria had mentioned earlier.

"What is Priscilla doing fighting that guy?" Raki said.

"That man Marcus is one of the dragonkin..." Tabitha said.

Both Miria and Ophelia were the only ones among the group who didn't look suprised in the least. The lack of a reaction made it seem the two already suspected this strongly, and simply had other things in their minds that preocupied them.

"So you said one of them was Hysteria the Elgent huh? i've heard of her... tough bastard apparantly" Ophelia said with a wide grin, looking over at Miria cunningly.

Miria threw her a simple nod in response, while doing her best to locate the elegent warrior amongst the crowds throughout the giant collosem. Being the tallest among the three, she would be the easiest one to locate first among the other two, and there was little doubt that they had arrived in this place by now.

"So we have three ressurected ones to deal with and now one of those Dragonkin?" Helen sighed.

"You said they were after Teresa? just what would they want with her?" Deneve asked.

"Well Teresa is one popular warrior so i'm not surpised..." Helen added.

"I have no idea, but I don't like this situation at all." Miria said.

"I would love to see them try and take Teresa on. It would be so fun to watch! all these fights are just too exciting!" Riful said joyfully, the only one amongst the group who seemed to enjoy the situation just a little too much.

"They didn't mention anything about Clare right?" Raki said, peering over curiously towards the captain.

-"No, they don't appear to know anything about her. They weren't even heading for her direction."

"Well that's good, but we should warn Teresa about those three then," He added: "Clare would never forgive us if something happened to her."

"No," Miria snapped: "We want to draw them out. If any one of us goes down there perhaps they won't show themselves and they will have the advantage of a pre-emptive strike."

Ophelia smirked cunningly, folding her arms over across herself: "It's not like you have anything to worry about. Irene is down there so that Teresa isn't exactly alone. Both are annoying bitches afterall."

"Not as annoying as you I can guarantee that." Raki spat at her.

"Too cute. Funny you say that after losing to me."

-"You threw dirt in my eye! and even then I managed to slice you up pretty good. I'm pretty sure i'm the new number two, and you demoted down to three."

"Whatever you say..." she hissed.

"Miria...are you sure there are only three of those ressurected ones?" Tabitha said.

"There were only three that I saw..." Miria said, looking over curiously at her.

"Well, there's another group heading towards this direction...and most of them are very powerful indeed..."

* * *

While the rest of the group headed towards the colloseum, Galatea quickly took notice that Isley had carefully slipped away from them, moving off down a side street of this estranged city all by himself. She had suspected as much, and already knew he wasn't particularily interested in what was going on within this place, so there was nothing suprising about his behavour. After leading the younger, and lower digits to a place she considered a safe distance away from all the action, she decided to found out exactly where that man was going and left the group for a short moment to investigate.

Following his trail, she moved by a few slick alley ways, following him down towards the far western part of the city, entering upon the large outer gates that seperated the place from the wilderness. Cleverly leaping on top of the structure, she noticed Isley along the very edge of the wall, the chilly winds blowing across his hair and long cloak playfully. By the look of things, it appeared as if he had already been waiting for her to catch up all along, and merely stood patiently to await for her presence.

Walking towards him, she looked over at the distant collosem for a moment, before looking back at him with a curious look upon her face. She already knew what he was thinking, but decided to ask anyway.

"Leaving already? Didn't you come for Priscilla and that man Raki?" she said, her tone almost a tease.

The man with silvery hair remained silent for a moment longer before turning around and leering upon this woman with an intense look in his eyes, a slick smile sliding upon his lips as he replied:

"This is no place for someone like me, and those two are safer without my presence anway, so if you're here to follow me then I would advise against it."

She slipped closer, smiling cunningly as she stood before him: "I never planned to follow you beyond these walls. I'm just curious about what your plans are. Perhaps you'll now move off to some cave somewhere and live your life like you always have? sounds terribly exciting"

"Perhaps. So then, will you miss me?" he said.

A delightful smirk came across Galatea's lips: "What do you think?"

He sighed grieviously: "Something tells me i'll probably miss you more than you'll miss me..."

"Correct. You were merely a pretty boy who was just a bit of fun for a while, but now i'm completely over you."

"So you just used me? I have to say, i'm pretty suprised at how cold you actually are..." he said

-"What? do you think I actually cared for someone like you?" she said with an almost wicked smile.

Isley remained silent for a moment, looking over at the distant mountains with a faded smile across his lips, silent for a moment as he was left alone to his thoughts.

"Yeah whatever. It's not like I felt anything...for you either."

"I'm glad." she said.

-"But tell me," he added, looking up at her with a hopeful look: "If we weren't what we were...do you think it could have worked between us? I know it's a ridiculous thing to say, especially for someone like me...but...I just thought..."

Galatea merely stared at this man for a while longer, his words cut off by the howling winds that raced by them both.

"Well you thought wrong," she said: "I only used you to guarantee my own protection. Thanks for that by the way, but in the end, I don't care in the least for you."

"Bitch." he hissed.

She smiled back at him sleekly: "Oh don't tell me you thought it was something else?"

He brushed a glance over at this woman, trying to stop himself from having a long hard look at her. Her eyes, he noticed, made it pretty clear that she meant what she said with all that, and there was nothing he could do to change that.

"If it were any one else...I would simply rip them to pieces for speaking to me in such a manner..." he said, his face lowered.

"Don't tell me...that you feel something for me or something foolish like that? that's so pathetic..."

Isley didn't respond to her. Instead, he spared one last glance before turning his back to her for the final time, pulling his cloak over his face before preparing to leave. He had hoped to simply leave, and just hope she had felt the same way about him, but instead, things ended this way, and it felt far worst than any wound from any battle he had ever endured.

"Be safe Galatea..." He said, taking the last steps across the edge of the wall and dissapearing into the wilderness.

* * *

Another powerful clash from the battle up ahead blew a second gust of wind over, forcing both Teresa and Irene to blink in rapid succession to protect their eyes from this obscurity. The fight ahead had been going on for a while now, and Priscilla's yoki was quickly approaching its limit. Marcus, however, showed no evidence of using any sort of strange energy like their kind, and simply managed to keep up with Priscilla no matter how much strength she had managed to summon.

"I've had enough of this..." Teresa sighed heavily, drawing her blade out from its sheath from her back.

"Oh don't tell me you're going to save Priscilla?" Irene said curiously.

"That man and I have unfinnished business. If she get's in my way i'll kill her if i must. Stay here."

Irene watched as Teresa moved off, trotting towards them in the most casual of manners. As long as she could remember, the smiling warrior was someone who never took anything too seriously, treating most things almost like an annoyance with even this intense situation no different it seemed.

Not long after Teresa had moved off, Irene could sense an intriguing presense approaching her from behind. Curious about this, she turned around and could see a strange warrior whom she could not quite identify, but seemed quite familiar nonetheless. She was far taller than most, with a distinctive pair of braids tied to either side of her long silky hair that blew off to the side so tidily by the gentle winds. She had a claymore in her main hand, and a dazling smile that oozed of pure arrogance.

"You...I don't recognise you. What rank are you?" Irene said, her brow raised in suspicion.

"Number one," Hysteria smiled.

"Number one? what are you talking about? i'm the authority here so get back to your post and secure the perimiter."

"Listen to me!" the elegent warrior demanded with an annoyed expression: "I'm looking for a Teresa and Phantom Miria, but this place is so noisy and crowded, it's difficult to find anything. Tell me where they are!"

A puzzled look came across Irene as she stared at this strangely familiar face of this warrior. She couldn't quite figure out just where she had seen this individual before, but there was no doubt in her mind that they had met once, though when and where was a complete mystery to her at the moment.

"Wait a second..." Irene said, scrutizing this warrior that appeared more and more familiar as the seconds passed by.

"Oh do you know me? Are you one of those two?" Hysteria said with a intrigued look.

"So it's really you! Hysteria who died on Rockw-"

Hysteria's smirk quickly turned into an annoyed frown, and before Irene could even react, the wind was taken from her as Hysteria raced by her at an unbelievable speed, slicing across her front in a blindingly elegent strike. She could hear the crowds erupt in applaus at this, and feel the sound of thousanads of excited people stomp their feet in response.

Staggered, Irene frantically turned around to face her swift attacker, lost admist sheer shock to even care for the newfound wound upon her. She couldn't beleive that Hysteria the Elegent was now walking amongst the living yet again, this ghost of a warrior she swore was reduced to nothing but a distant memory. The last time she had seen this former number one was when she hadn't even reached single digit status long ago, back when even Teresa was rising in the ranks. If this was truly the former number one, Hysteria, then the rumor of her resurection was no doubt true, and that must also mean that the other two, Cassandra and Roxanne must me amongst the crowds somehwere just waiting to make their presence known.

"Oh? So You can still stand after the first strike? Just what's with warriors these days?" Hysteria said, peering innocently at her.

Irene didn't respond, instead, she found herself still unable to comprahend just what was unfolding before her. She instinctively looked around the giant collosem, running her eyes along the crowds that stacked the sides of the structure in their thousands, hoping to find evidence of that which she suspected, but saw no evidence whatsoever. Wherever the other two must have been was a complete mystery as of now.

Being the number one regulator in this establishment, Irene knew she would not recieve any assistance from the other regulators as long as the fight was one on one, so for now it was wise to focus her attention upon this single threat before she did anything else.

She returned her attention back upon this most elegent warrior, preparing her blade before herself: "So you want Teresa?"

"Yes! And Miria! tell me where they are now!" Hysteria spurted, her patience sinking.

"Right behind you," a sudden voice said, much to the suprsise of Hysteria.

The elegent warrior turned around, raising her blade at the last moment to defend herself from an incoming strike from a familair person that came at her at an impressive speed even for her standards. It was the woman with the distinctive spiky hair she had met earlier, the one she had remember named herself Hilda.

Miria phantomed backwards rapidly afterwards, the sight of this pronding Hysteria to throw her the most suspicious of stares.

"Hey! just who exactly are you really?" Hysteria yelled.

"My name is Miria."

Hysteria's eyes widened at this, continuing to stare at this warrior for a moment longer, but it wasn't long until her gentle face turned into a one of deep hatred when she heard this.

"Hey! you lied to me! I don't appreciate being made a fool of!" Hysteria spurted fumingly.

"Sorry to deceive you, but I just couldn't be honest back then at that time."

At that moment, Roxanne emerged out from the crowd, landing by the three with a snarky look across her. She peered at Hysteria for a moment, then looked over towards Irene a moment later. Her eyes snaked across her venomosly, a curious grin coming by her lips:

"What's that I heard earlier about you being the authority here? I'll just have to take that away from you then I suppose..." Roxanne said, drawing her blade against Irene.

* * *

_Just what?_

_I leave Irene for a moment and already trouble arises?_

Teresa turned around herself, and down the other end of the battlefield, alongside Irene, were three other figures looking as though they were engaged in combat against eachother. One of them was Miria, the other unknown, and the tallest one someone whom she had trouble recongnising but seemed strangely familair to her nonetheless. She didn't know what exactly was going on or why these two intruders seem to be attacking her comrades, but she was determined to find this out.

She spared a glance back towards Marcus a short ways ahead, watching on hopelessly as the man managed to overwhealm the younger warrior with a quick combination, sending her flying towards her direction.

Landing with a thud, Priscilla skidded across the reddened sand, rolling many times over until finally stopping before Teresa's boots leaving behind a trail of dust in her wake.

"Good going there," Teresa said annoyingly to the wounded warrior that lay so pathetically beneath her: "You really showed him."

Priscilla shakily got to her feet, still holding on to her weapon as she dusted herself off and resumed a prepared stance nonetheless. Her eyes glowed a hellish yellow, muscles dying down back to their normal size as she began to calm herself down. Though she was wounded with a dozen or so cuts across her, it was clear she still had a lot of fight left in her, and didn't look as though she was prepared to give up at any moment anyway.

"He's pretty good..." Priscilla said, lifting her blade upwards.

"Clearly too good for you," Teresa replied, glancing upon the incoming Marcus then back upon Irene and Miria's direction.

-"Hardly. it's not like you can do any better..."

"Well then stop playing around and finnish him then," Teresa snapped back.

Priscilla smiled gently over at her, but almost immediatelly her attention fell upon the side a with a look of curiosity as she saw something interesting approach them "Just who...is that?"

Noticing this strange warrior also, Teresa raised a brow suspiciously at this intruder with short hair that slivered down her sides with long elongated ears and an impressive aura that no doubt cemented the great strength she no doubt possessed.

"And just who are you supposed to be?" Teresa said.

The warrior stared at them equally as oddly, but almost immediatelly she drew her blade and shot them a long unfriendly glare:

"Are you Teresa?" she said.

-"I am,"

"My name is Cassandra, and i'm sorry to inturupt but I will be attacking you now."

_Cassandra? one of the ressurected ones Irene mentioned earlier?_

_At such a time?_

_Then the other two must also be ressurected number ones..._

Marcus walked up to them a moment later, the man flicking his gaze between the three warriors before him, looking up Cassandra before cementing his gaze upon Teresa:

"Wherever you go it seems you draw Trouble huh Teresa?" he smirked at her, thrusting his double edged spear into the ground beneath him: "But then again your kind has always been a little disfunctional."

Teresa groaned in annoyance at this estranged turn of events. Not only did she have to deal with Marcus, but now this new warrior called Cassandra that for some reason wanted to fight her as well. At the same time, Miria and Irene were left to combat the other two, while the defeaning roar of the collosem made the situation seem like it was just one giant game to everyone else. For Teresa, this day was definatelly turning into a nightmare, but something was telling her it wasn't going to get any better any time soon.

* * *

_Finding herself lost admist a barren desert, Clare looked around herself in frantic motions, but saw nothing but redenned sand and various dying shrubs in all directions, with nothing else but the blinding sun making it's presense known in the empty sky above. She didn't know where she was, or how it came to be that she arrived in this dessolate place, but she was determined to discover the truth._

_Though Clare couldn't quite explain it, she found herself wearing human clothes that seemed strangely familiar to her. As she though deeply on this, a sudden realization drew into her confused mind. The clothes were similar to the onces she wore before she became a hybrid, the same ones she wore the day she had met Teresa of the Fainst smile._

_In her right hand, was her trusty Claymore, and in her left was something that made her stomache cringe from the sheer horror of gazing upon it. Teresa's decapitated head._

_Dropping the head in a fright, Clare took a step backwards in confusion, trying her best to piece back her entangled mind. Just what was going on? and why was she holding on to Teresa's head? where was she? was this a nightmare? was she already dead?_

_Hearing a strange sound behind herself, Clare turned around and noticed the outlines of what looked like a humanoid figure that had began to form in the sand that blew in the gentle winds. She could not properly make out the figure, nor figure out who or what it was supposed to be, but before she could figure this out, the world quickly fell into a chilling darkness as the sun vanished into nothingness._

_The sandy figure transformed into something surreal and ghostly that stuck out from the overwhealming darkness, with long wavy hair that bristled gently by strange cosmic winds that surrounded her. Her face was indistinguishable, her body equally so, but what was apparant was a simple faint smile and a pair of mesmerising eyes that glistened brighter than all the other parts of her ghostly body._

_Unable to beleive her eyes, Clare almost dropped her weapon as she scanned this mysterious figure before her. Was this Teresa? or merely something that looked just like her? _

"_Teresa..." Clare said softly, hoping to get some sort of a response._

_The figure, however, did not respond in any way. Instead, it merely raised it's main hand, revealing a glowing weapon that, like the rest of herself, glistened in the cosmic winds, looking as if it was made of a supernatural substance that was not particularily solid and looked as it it were to be dispersed into the wind at any moment._

"_Teresa it's me. Clare. Is that you?" Clare said again, her suspicion growing._

_Yet again the figure did not respond, and after thinking to herself for a moment, Clare decided to move through the overhealming blackness around her, closer towards this strange image of Teresa._

_As she approached the figure, the image suddenly raised it's weapon against her, and Clare jumped in alarm, doing the same. She didn't know what was going on, or what this image of Teresa actually was, but something definatelly didn't feel right in the back of her mind._

"_What are you doing? Do you know where I am? How do I get out of here?" Clare said._

_A chilling silence set between the two of them, then, without notice, Teresa suddenly raced towards her, leaving a trail of the ghostly substance in her wake. Their Claymore's clashed, and Clare gritted her teeth in frustration as she struggled to hold back the incredible strength being thrust upon her by this ghostly Teresa, their weapons grinding with white hot sparks flying in all directions._

"_I don't want to fight you! Teresa! stop it!" Clare yelled into the figure's ghastly face, lost amdist the emotionless faint smile that greeted her._

_Much to her dismay, Teresa withdrew her weapon and striked again, forcing Clare to a quick parry to avoid getting herself killed. As this transpired, the wind blew the strange, ghostly substance from Teresa's image, brushing by her skin and chilling her to the bone. The energy felt cold, but at the same time, pleasantly warm, feeling very much like yoki that flowed through the blood from that of a Claymore warrior. _

_Continuing to defend herself from Teresa's merciless offensive, Clare quickly recognised the origin of this yoki aura. From the incredible density, and familiar nature of it, there was no doubt this was Teresa's yoki, a power that had been sealed within herself for so many years. This was an energy that could be felt during only the most desperate moments of her life, during fights that demanded its presense and had saved her life more than once before. But now, this once pleasant energy no longer felt as welcoming as it had before, and instead, seemed more and more hostile as time went on._

"_What are you doing Teresa? Stop it!" Clare yelled._

_As she suspected, Teresa did not respond, and a clever combination from the wavy haired warrior exposed an opening in her, and as a result, Clare felt a crushing blow across her abdomen that sent her flying backwards into the oblivion behind her. Teresa's kick propelled her backwards, falling violently across the glassy smooth floor, landing an impressive distance away._

"_So then it's like this..." Clare said, groaing in pain, raiseing hersef to her feet, Claymore still ready in hand, her frustration growing stronger at this strange situation she had found herself in._

_The cosmic winds blew across ever stronger, dispersing much of Teresa's figure as she casually trotted towards her. Though there was no doubt this was Teresa in a sense, it wasn't 'her' Teresa, and was not concious in it's own right._

_Teresa raced for her yet again, and this time, Clare swung her weapon towards her, but merely hit empty space as the image dispersed into the wind, reforming behind her in an instant. Predicting a strike across her, Clare ducked at the last moment, cleverly evading a blow and responding with her own offensive to which Teresa evaded equally as simply._

"_Learned that from you," Clare smiled softly as the two engaged in a frantic sword play: "Such a technique is uniquely yours isn't it? to predict attacks even before they are made."_

_There was no response from the figure as usual, but Clare continued on soundly with a forced smile through the clashing sounds of their weapons:_

"_It was always you protecting me from everything wasn't it? Whenever I needed strength in times of need, you were always there to lend me a little of your power huh?"_

_Distracted for only a second, Clare cringed when Teresa's blade managed to pass her defences, inflicting a wound across her side that felt terribly real. Blood exploded outwards, drenching her humanly clothes and flowing beneath her feet and staining the prestinely clean floor._

"_So then you're not Teresa...you just look like her...Well then, I guess I should get serious..."_

_Throwing her Claymore behind her back, Clare propelled her blade forward again in devistating swipes as she turned her attacks up a notch and released the power of the windcutter. Teresa's incredible agility and skillful swordplay, however, managed to stop the attacks with little effort, her chillingly eerie face as casual as ever as she did so._

"_What did I expect? it's not like that's enough to stop you," Clare said, pulling her weapon back for a second time._

_This time, Clare flooded her right arm with her own yoki, the awakened flesh flooding with life and lashing outwards, her blade flying off in random directions and slicing up the very air in a mad frenzy. As she suspected, Teresa managed to stop this also, but as she summonned more and more power across herself, Clare smiled proudly as she began to force Teresa to retreat backwards in response to the ever increasing power she threw forwards._

"_Irene once told me that my quicksword was only half as powerful as hers," Clare smirked through the defeaning winds of her weapon's onslaught: "But recently, i've managed to make it many times stronger than even hers back then. Are you impressed?"_

_Recieving the same empty response from Teresa as always, Clare then raised the speed and power of her technique to a point even further than ever before. The awakened flesh in her arm begged to spread across her body, but she was determined to keep it at bay, determined to keep Teresa at bay. She was impressed that Teresa managed to keep up so well so far, but it was only a short moment when the first innevitable strike across her opponent was first realized._

_Clare's blade crept past Teresa's defence and landed a clear strike across her form, errupting the wavy haired warrior's illuinated blood outwards in an clear arc, the strike dispersing much of her ghastly form. _

_The two came to a temporary retreat, gazing upon the other with a chilly gaze. Teresa had been hit, but already the illuminating energy that made up her form had reformed around the wound, returning her back to normal. _

_As soon as she had completly regenerated, Teresa blinked gently, revealing a pair of hellish eyes drenched in a rich gold. The eyes tore through the darkness, sending a pulse of incredible energy that flooded outwards chocking the air between them. _

"_I should have known..." Clare said, a single drop of sweat running down the side of her face: "You were only toying with me so far..."_

_Teresa merely stared at her for a moment longer before engaging yet again, her movements raised to a level completely different than before. In response, Clare released much of her own yoki in an attempt to compensate, but quickly found that no matter how much she would release, it would barely be enough to keep up with this superior warrior._

_Eventually, Clare found herself releasing most of her powers, causing her muscles to expand ever so slightly and veins bulge outwards. Teresa was so quick and powerful, that even such an amount was simply not enough, and a few times, the strength of the strikes Clare defended herself against felt strong enough to force the weapon out of her grip._

_Attempting a second quicksword, Clare swallowed the last of her might in this last desperate attempt, but before she knew it, Teresa ghosted past her, sinking her blade deeply across the front of her chest in an incredibly fast motion._

_Immediatelly, the quicksword was ended the moment it started, and Clare collapsed to a single knee, dropping her weapon in response to this devistating wound across her. She wasn't sure if this was even her real body, or if this place was something akin to a dream, but even so, the pain and blood felt very real. She placed her hand across her chest like a wounded animal, looking back at her unschathed opponent._

"_Ridiculous...just how tough are you really?" Clare said, wheezing and coughing out blood that dripped across her lips. _

_In silence, Teresa walked up towards her, staring down at her like a predator to its prey, those golden eyes reverting back to a familiar silver as they stared down at her._

_Clare found herself too distressed to respond in any way, unable to help her body from shaking due to the incredible power before her that anchored her down like a onverwhealming weight across her shoulders. As she looked up at this image of Teresa that had defeated her, Clare couldn't help but take notice of that faint smile that had never left her gentle face, the smile that surely was the last thing she would ever see if she didn't do something about it._

_Looking over to her side, Clare could still see the glistening silver of her dropped blade as it lay so innocently across the floor beside her. She gazed up at Teresa's face for a moment, and noticed her attention was completely fixated upon her, and immediatelly, strange thoughts began to fill her mind. Though this person looked and felt exactly like the Teresa she knew, there was a strangely odd presense about her, almost as if there was a complete lack of life to her. This Teresa's eyes glistened like that of a yoma, emotionless and dead and her face didn't show the fainstest trace of life to it. _

_As much as the thought pained her. She knew what she had to do._

"_I'm sorry..." Clare said, slowly reaching over for her downed blade and then rapidly swinging the steel before her._

_She watched as Teresa's eyes widen in response, both her hands sliced off as they fell to the ground. Clare spared no time as she raced forward, removing Teresa's head a split second later, her blade slicing through her fragile neck and ending the battle._

_Clare's heart ached as she watched Teresa's lifeless body drop to her knees, falling over in a lifeless manner and dispersing into the wind a moment later._

_Dropping to her knees, Clare broke down in tears, her mind torturing her as it replayed the sickenning act over and over in her mind. She couldn't believe what she had done, or the fact that she even had it in herself to do such a thing._

_As the tears fell down her face, a blinding light suddenly engullfed her surroundings, and all of a sudden the familiar essense of Teresa flooded the space around her, sending pleasant feelings across her skin and warming her insides to the core. She could feel a marvelous rush of energy engulph her, an ecstatic energy that, though overwhealming, was also incredibly relaxing and welcoming. Suddenly images of Teresa flooded her overhealmed mind, the pleasant aroma of her hair, and the warmness of her skin and touch could be felt across her own as the energy carressed around her form like a warming ocean of loving energy._

Panting heavily, Clare woke to the unmistakable sound of a distant battle, a maddening sound of steel clashing against steel in the background, a sound that had been long since engraved in her mind. Opening her eyes, Clare looked around herself and found herself alone in the empty barracks, seeing nothing but untindy beds, and the bright rays of the sun indicating the morning long since started without her.

_What a strange dream..._

_wait..._

_was that even a dream?_

Tossing herself out of bed, Clare cringed under the weight of her beaten body that, unfortnatelly hadn't completely healed from the night before it seemed. Noticing her claymore to her side, she grabbed her weapon, smiling gently to herself when she noticed her distinct symbol engraved along the edge of the hilt. She remembered the weapon being covered in Priscilla's dried blood, but was surprised to see it completely unstained. She figured Teresa must have cleaned it for her, even going as far as giving it a good polish that made it glisten in the early morning sun.

She jumped when another distant sound caught her attention, the sound ripping through the rock walls of the empty barraks. Sheathing her weapon in its holster on her back, Clare made her way out of the darknened building, entering upon the strong light outside and staring at the distant colloseum with a look of intrigue.

_Just where...is everyone else?_

_Are they in that building?_

_Teresa..._

_wait for me...i'll be right there..._

* * *

And there we go. Chapter finished. I really hope you guys enjoyed reading that as much as i enjoyed typing it! please let me know what you think as i've done my best trying to maintain the cast of characters that i know people like. I try to give screen time to as many as i can and perhaps i have too many characters in this pic, but regardless it seems to be going fine. What do you guys think? let me know in by leaving a review to help improve this story!

thanks for reading!


	55. Chapter 55

Next chapter is up hope you guys like it.

* * *

As Roxanne fought against this warrior Irene, she could immediately sense something strange about her arm. The yoki signature was vastly different than the rest of the body, almost as if it was foreign in nature. This foreign yoki must have come from an external source, as it was far stronger than the rest of the warrior herself.

Still wondering about this, Roxanne was left completely horrified when Irene's estranged arm suddenly awakened and began to lash out in a succession of blindingly fast strikes. This was a technique the likes of which she'd never seen before, and Roxanne couldn't properly account for every one of them. The challenge was bordering on difficult, and though she knew where and how to move herself, Roxanne knew it would only take a single stray strike from this devastating technique to end their fight.

"That arm, it's not yours is it? Roxanne smiled.

"Correct. I had a replacement from a particularly powerful former number one warrior. I do believe her name was Chloe, she had quite the reputation. I've grown to enjoy the power contained within it."

_Simply ridiculous!_

_she awakens her entire arm and then sends it in a frenzy?_

_I simply must have this technique..._

_actually..._

_I think i've already got it._

Attempting to flood her own yoki towards her own arm, Roxanne promptly awakened the limb and attempted her best at replicating this technique against the original.

Noticing this attempt at her technique, Irene countered with her own but backed away in surprise as she stared at Roxanne Suspiciously. She simply couldn't believe it. Did this warrior who predated both her and Teresa just perform the quicksword? There was nothing mentioned like this in the archives, and especially not for Roxanne. Was there something more to her than was known?

"What do you...call that? it's so very interesting." Roxanne said playfully.

"Some call it Quicksword."

"Awakening a single arm...Why didn't I ever think of trying something like that? But how do you control it? I almost cut myself a few times! look at my clothes! Roxanne said, frowning at the scrapes across her clothes."

"So you...just learned the technique now? how is that even possible?" Irene said.

_Amazing. Though the level is pathetic next to my own, Roxanne already learned the basics of the quicksword from simply one encounter..._

_Not even Clare can best that..._

_This Roxanne of Love and Hate..._

_Just what exactly are you capable of?_

"Hey...so do you have to meditate to control it or something like that? Or does it simply get easier with time? It's just so fascinating and I want to use it just like you do! at this point I'm actually a little worried i'd kill myself so i'd rather not attempt that again..." Roxanne said.

"Don't even bother," Irene snapped, "Someone like you doesn't have the heart to control such a technique."

"Oh yeah and who are you to judge me? what was your former rank exactly?" Roxanne said.

Irene looked coldly at this most interesting warrior. Though Roxanne no doubt had incredible potential, she was also arrogant and apparently very dangerous. She wasn't unsure whether it was even worth engaging in conversation with her, no matter how brief.

"I was Number two." Irene said softly.

"Well then I guess I have jurisdiction over you then." Roxanne smirked.

"Not exactly. the ranks back on our respective islands have no meaning here. Being the number one amongst the regulators, I have executive power in this place." Irene said.

"Well then who the hell was number one during your time? Even stupid Cassandra's technique would struggle against you!" Roxanne smirked curiously.

Irene stood silently, curious about this former warrior of Legend, Roxanne. She did briefly read through the archives from time to time, and it was Roxanne amongst others that stood out the most for her. As far as she could remember, Roxanne was said to be statistically one of the strongest Claymore to have ever existed. Given her history of being one of the lower ranks, her ascent to the top was said to be the quickest and most impressive the organization has ever seen. Among the three resurrected ones, it was Roxanne of Love and Hate whom she had told herself to execute first if they ever were to ever meet.

"Oh you mean Teresa?"

Roxanne's blood froze for a moment as she smiled in delight, "Teresa...I'm really starting to love that name..."

Irene wasn't sure how to respond to such a strange comment from this equally strange warrior. She took a quick glance Teresa's way and was relieved to see her and Cassandra still merely at a stare down, not actually in combat just yet. Nearby, Priscilla and Marcus continued their duel against each other, but this didn't seem to concern the wavy haired warrior in the slightest. Her attention seemed completely drilled upon Cassandra. It was impossible to say what they were saying to each other, but Teresa was never usually the talkative type after all.

"Just who are you looking at exactly?" Roxanne said excitingly, glaring at the figures at the very centre of the battlefield.

The moment Roxanne took notice of a certain warrior with long wavy hair and a faint smile, Irene looked back over her stupefied face that almost seemed as if it was lost to a trance.

"That is Teresa. If you can't defeat me then you have no chance against her. Even i'm not bothering to try again."

"Wow that's Teresa? she's so impressive I must say...and so beautiful...so perfect." Roxanne said adoringly, her attention hopelessly locked upon this distant warrior with long wavy hair.

"Well yes...I suppose that's also true...but what exactly do you want with her? -" Irene said.

Instead of sticking around to answer, Roxanne, in her excitement suddenly left for Teresa's direction, kicking dust into Irene's eyes without any warning. Irritated, Irene recovered and followed on through the junken mess of the battlefield as she chased her target towards the centre. Irene was definitely right from her analysis before. Roxanne was no Priscilla or Teresa, but there was still undoubtedly a lot of potential within the girl, even though she's technically dead.

Arriving upon the centre, Roxanne rested along the edge of a gigantic skeletal tusk that stuck up from the earth among the many other debris around them. Irene arrived next to her, and still found herself terribly intrigued at the manner in which Roxanne stared at Teresa with eyes of fascination. It was an affection that didn't seem particularly normal, and was not particularity warranted for that matter either. Alarm bells rang in her head, and very quickly Irene didn't trust this Roxanne of Love and Hate all too much.

They noticed that Teresa and Cassandra had now advanced to merely testing each other with simple swordplay. The two held on quite well, both clearly talented in this field it seemed. Among the unofficial rules of swordplay, it was always appropriate to get a feel for your opponent before going all out, and this was something Teresa had always liked to drag out as long as possible.

As Roxanne synchronized her yoki with this Teresa, she could barely hold on to her weapon from excitement. The power Teresa possessed was colossal, her movements so perfect they made combat akin to more sadistic dance of death. Teresa merely smiled gently as she fought so effortlessly, looking as if a battle was akin to more of a bore. To Roxanne, it was as if the world had bestowed upon her the most valuable of prizes, a warrior that surpassed everything even in her wildest of fantasies.

"Cassandra will not defeat her...not somebody that strong. But that's still impossible!" Roxanne said, her expression suddenly horrifying, "How can someone be so powerful?"

"I do recall that you were particularly gifted with yoki sensing. Being this close to Teresa would be quite overwhelming I suppose."

"I would have traded an eye and an arm if it were Teresa back then instead of Cassandra...But I suppose the world needs chaos...funny how the world works." Roxanne grinned.

"For Teresa, I wouldn't have traded her for anyone. To me it was an honor to be the number two by her side." Irene said.

"But don't you hate her for it? for being so much better than you and knowing you could never surpass her?"

Irene nodded with a shameless agreeance, "That's true I have to admit. In a way I will always hate Teresa, but my respect for her as a warrior is absolute."

* * *

Arriving at the giant Colosseum, Rafaela and her group hastily made themselves upon the giant building, following the sounds of the crowds that roared from within. Reaching upon a suitable vantage point, they were welcomed by an enormous interior with thousands of people watching the action below like savage animals that cheered for the spill of blood. It didn't take long for her to locate the deceitfully graceful warrior with the streaks of long wavy hair upon the centre of the battlefield. A moment of awe ran across Rafaela's mind, but as she watched this warrior's movements and techniques, there was no doubt this was Teresa of the Faint Smile.

"So that's the awe inspiring Teresa in the centre huh? Wonder why those three wanted her so bad? And...I sense Riful is about." Luciela purred, leaning across the edge of the structure as if begging to leave.

Rafaela turned over to those around her, "Anastasia and Dietrich, I do not require your assistance and neither that of the rest. At this point we don't even know who the rebels are exactly."

"Hey no problem, But Audrey already told us who to look for so i'm sure we'll meet up sooner or later with this Miria." Dietrich said.

"I'm glad we have an understanding. But Raftella you stay where you are."

While the others moved away, the nimble number ten made her way over to the edge, seemingly amazed at all the commotion down in the colosseum before her. Not many of them had ever seen so many people before, and especially not someone like herself.

"What do you want me to do?" she said.

Placing a boot over the edge and looking down to analyze the height of the fall, Rafaela thought out her next series of events strongly in her mind. This place was a public event guarded by guards and anything was possible. Any drastic actions would reap colossal repercussions especially with so many blades involved.

"For now," Rafaela said with a deathly stare, "Just stay here and mess up the mind of any enemy that engages myself or Luciela."

"Roger. Anything else?"

"If it happens to be the one with the wavy hair then don't bother. She'll find and kill you before you even know it." Rafaela warned.

With a nod, Raftella understood her orders, swallowing the lump in her throat as she moved off silently.

"We need to locate the rebellion leader. Audrey had said that she was Phantom Miria." Rafaela said to her sister.

"Why do you insist joining these rebels? Even if we find this leader i'm not interested in being led by anyone." Luciela said, her tone making her irritance clear.

"I merely said we locate them first. We need to know who our enemies and ally's are first."

-"But I wonder what Riful is doing here...don't tell me she joined their rebellion..." Luciela said grimly.

"I wouldn't be surprised. That one is probably plotting to screw them at any moment." Rafaela said.

"Probably, so I say you find Miria and I'll find Riful."

"Try not to cause any trouble." Rafaela said.

* * *

Miria clenched her jaw tight as she slammed against the edge of the battlefield outer wall. The impact crumbled the stone structure, flicking cracked tiles around in a mess. Lost to a daze, Her hearing was fuzzy and all she could feel were the wisps of dust that flew across her face, trickling down towards her nose. The impact was a little Rougher even with what she's usually comfortable with, and though Hysteria didn't seem to be strong physically, the extra speed she possessed no doubt made up for that during their clashes.

Moving off the wall, Miria shook her face, snapping out of her blurry vision and that infuriating ringing in her ears. Her eyes quickly sharpened, and not far from her, stood Hysteria, her face lost to a satisfied grin.

"You cannot hope to match my speed and accuracy. I best you in almost every way. I was hoping you'd at least be able to measure up to me... " Hysteria said.

Miria smiled back, wiping the blood from the edge of her lips: "It doesn't matter what you say, To me, it's an honor to do battle against someone like you."

Hysteria looked at her oddly: "Oh do you know me?"

"Every one knows of the massacre on Rockwell Hill...you've made quite the reputation. The warrior with the technique said to be the most elegant and beautiful of all...You are actually even better than I had imagined." Miria said.

Finding herself incredibly flattered, Hysteria pressed on further,: " You don't hold anything back I see. That's so interesting to hear as you know after all this time i've been actually holding back a little as well..."

As Hysteria rambled on, Miria turned over to her side and noticed Teresa hadn't even engaged in combat, and Interestingly, nearby was Irene and Roxanne watching on from the side. Both Priscilla and Marcus fought each other as usual however. At this point, Miria wasn't sure whether she should waste her time with Hysteria if she could be assisting Teresa and the others instead.

Noticing that her words were going on deaf ears, Hysteria quickly stepped forwards and instantly appeared before Miria with her incredible burst of speed.

Staring into Miria's dumfounded face, Hysteria whispered, "Hate being ignored more than anything."

Miria barely had ample time to dodge even a little of Hysteria's blade that cut through her flesh, tearing open streams of blood that escaped and drench her clothes. The taste of iron all to clear in the corner of her mouth.

Hysteria looked back at her wounded opponent with a shameless delight.

"So you can still stand? for someone like you that's actually quite impressive...but you cannot keep it up forever."

"You're right. I'd probably drop dead after a few more of those..." Miria said.

"So then you are finished. What a shame." Hysteria said.

"Not quite yet unfortunately for you,"

Flooding her body with a rush of yoki, Miria's eyes shot a demonic yellow, her muscles receiving an incredible new energy source. she pushed herself to the limit, only just managing to hold it back and make as much use of it's powers as possible. Against such an opponent, this most desperate of moves was something she would need to use to keep up. Besides, It was the moment she had dreamt of, and defeating Hysteria would be all the proof she needed she had it in her to surpass even this most elegant warrior.

"Give it up. I already told you that you can't match my speed, no matter how far you go." Hysteria said.

Noticing the beginnings of Miria' technique, Hysteria prepared herself for yet another one of those slower phantom techniques, but jolted in surprise to parry this new attack from the thundering spiky haired warrior. Though it was a speed that was still slightly inferior to her own, it was a dramatic increase from the past, and thus was taken by surprise. Her parry ended up a clumsy one, and Miria's blade scraped across her right shoulder as she raced by in a blur.

-"Hey! Have you lost your mind!" Hysteria yelled, glaring hopelessly at this warrior than now neared her limit, threatening to awaken with just a nudge.

"I suppose seven years of meditation in the north made it possible for me to do this. It's the one area where I surpass you in."

"Yes...but that's simply ridiculous... you're absolutely crazy..." Hysteria said with a awestruck look to her.

"Perhaps. But now that i've seen what you can do, only one of us will be standing at the end of this."

"So confident you are..." Hysteria said, closely scrutinizing this strange warrior.

"You've had your chance at the top, but now it's my time and I cannot have you interfere.' Miria said.

Hysteria smirked: "Fine by me, but don't expect me to dig you a grave or something."

"Don't worry, I, however, will dig you a good grave," Miria said, her face darkened, jaw almost that of a yoma.

A sudden rush of nervousness embodied Hysteria, faltering her near perfect form for a moment. There weren't many situations where she was forced to deal with something that moved as fast as herself after all. Miria was also very skillful in her swordplay, deceptive in her movements and strikes. To Hysteria, the imperfect nature of the phantom made this opponent very unpredictable, and brought this fight to a level of danger she wasn't quite comfortable with.

Another one of Miria's burst strikes had managed to cut her, and Hysteria's calm nature now boiled with retaliation. She skillfully sidestepping another of Miria's reckless charges, and countered with her own technique, performing another menacing slash across the former number six, the sight of blood making the damage all to clear.

"Even with that extra speed it gets easier to evade as I study your movements. Give it up."

Miria didn't respond, Instead, she just continued to pant heavily looking curiously over to her side as if noticing something approaching.

_What's this?_

Her senses alerting her, Hysteria was intrigued to see the faint glow of a raised blade a moment early and successfully evaded the kill attempt made by Ophelia. She retreated away, touching down a nearby overlook of nearby junk.

Miria looked over annoyingly at Ophelia: " I've got this so what do you think you're doing? Go get the other one."

"The strongest amongst the regulators don't ask for help as long as the battle is one on one, besides, i'm obliged to act to such situations." Ophelia hissed.

Looking over, Helen, Deneve had now arrived as well, the two surrounding Hysteria from opposite sides, pronging the agitation across the resurrected warrior who suddenly didn't seem as comfortable with things all of a sudden. Through all this, the colosseum roared with life, the crowds excited to see a complete bloodbath.

Noticing other regulators quickly surrounding her, Hysteria was prepared for anything. This was a situation all to similar to back then by that hillside a very long time ago. Attackers surrounded her from all directions, and most of them possessing the power of single digits no doubt.

"Wow this one's really tall..." Helen said.

"Nice observation there, guess who this one is?" Deneve said.

"I'm getting a little bored of all this. I simply wish to meet this Teresa. Tell me where she is." Hysteria said annoyingly.

"There's currently quite a long Que. for Teresa so in the meantime you'l deal with us instead. You see, you just committed a trespass crime, and such a this is a punishable offense." Ophelia said.

"What makes you think I care?" Hysteria said.

Miria lowered her bodies' yoki for a moment, returning her eyes to their natural silver state. She had originally intended to battle Hysteria one on one to prove to herself that she could surpass the legendary warrior, but did not wish for her to die in such a way against Ophelia and her band of regulator thugs. Hysteria wasn't the type to surrender, and such an engagement would only result in a massacre.

"If you surrender your weapon you can keep your life. Of course you'll be locked away and discipled, but don't worry, you'd be reasonably safe under my watch." Ophelia sneered in a crudely a suggestive manner.

Hysteria cringed at the thought, and suddenly her voice felt a little wary, "You think i'll play your game?...nobody is touching me..."

"Admit it your screwed. Look around you. You're completely surrounded and overwhelmed. I actually hope that you survive in the end. People like you are always fun to mess with near death."

Four regulators then approached Hysteria, and in the blink of an eye, the first two immediately fell to their knees in perfect synchrony with blood spraying from a set of fresh wounds inflicted by Hysteria's blade. The other two attempted to strike at her afterwards, but avoiding them was all to easy as she sealed their fate in a similar manner. The weight of dead meat and armor collapsed with a loud thud, staining the ground in pools of red around Hysteria's boots and Ophelia merely watched on in complete fascination.

Hysteria seemed hopelessly irritated, a bloodthirsty look to her eyes, "I will not hesitate to kill anyone else who approaches me. I will have no sympathy for those who attempt it."

"Oh yes I just love people like you...It will be fun to break you..."

Miria looked over accusingly at Ophelia. She was not amused at the way Ophelia handled this, and decided to intervene,

"That's enough Ophelia. You should at least show a little respect. " Miria said.

"This bitch killed most of her own comrades," Ophelia snapped back, "So it's not like she deserves your sympathy..."

"She did a horrific act yes," Miria said as gazed into Hysteria's stare for a moment and noticing the growing distress in her, "But no matter who it is, everyone deserves a chance to die with dignity."

"And you think you can kill her Miria? it's not like you can defeat her one on one."

Miria's eyes caught Hysteria's for a second time, holding back the strangest of urges to send a smile her way but forced the thought away. Hysteria was someone so admirable in every way after all, and a death by Ophelia and her goons would be a terrible end for this most glamorous of warriors.

"Give me two minutes. If I don't kill her by then you can move in," Miria said.

"That's pretty fair actually. Two minutes is all you have Miria,"

Miria cringed at the unsetting grin that came across Ophelia's face, then, in a flash she thundered towards a surprised Hysteria with a plan already set in her mind.

Raising her weapon in suspicion, the braided warrior said, " Miria...you're the first one that I plan to kill anyway. Do you wish to die that badly?"

As Ophelia and the rest of the regulators moved away, Miria looked straight at Hysteria and sent a single wink her way before saying,

"Listen to me. If you want to live you're going to have to lose to me."

Hysteria remained silent for a moment, unable to find the words to respond. Never before had she heard anything so absurd in her entire life. Just what was this warrior saying? was this merely an attempt at a joke?

"What a ridiculous idea. Why should I trust you? you already lied to me once before." Hysteria said.

"You're a little low on friends so you'll just have to take my word on that. Let me knock you unconscious and I guarantee you will wake up safe and no where near any bars. If you don't accept my offer, you will only be slaughtered by everyone else anyway and you would never meet Teresa."

"Teresa is nearby?" Hysteria said.

Miria looked over at the direction of Teresa, directing Hysteria's gaze to the distant wavy haired warrior.

"That is Teresa..."

Gazing upon the centre of the battlefield, Hysteria wasn't particularly impressed by this warrior, though for some reason she felt strangely familiar for reasons she couldn't quite explain. It was almost as if they had met once before, but just couldn't quite put a finger on it.

Hysteria looked back at Miria and the two engaged in a brief stare down as they took a step backwards to put a pause to their battle for only a moment. Hysteria found herself stricken by Miria. For some reason she could feel that Miria was someone of a genuine nature, something she had never felt for with anyone else she had ever encountered.

Still skeptical, Hysteria asked curiously. "Why are you doing this? what's in it for you?"

Miria smiled back at her, "Because somebody like you deserves a death worthy of your title. If things work how i planned, we can continue this fight some other time when there aren't others around to interrupt. Unlike these brutes, I will give you a clean death."

"That's so noble of you, but If you betray me I will make you regret it." Hysteria said warily.

Hysteria took one last glance at the overwhelming forces that surrounded her. There were more of these regulators than she could count, along with Ophelia and others quite powerful ones as well. Perhaps she had bitten off more than she could chew, and did not think properly about the retaliation this place would throw back at her from being so reckless.

"You have my word. I will personally look after you while you rest. I am the leader of the rebellion and will deal with you later."

"You're very persuasive," Hysteria said with an alluring gaze, "But even if it all works out how you said I will still hate you."

"That's just fine. We can hate each other later." Miria said.

"...So what do you suggest?"

Miria tensed her blade, looking around to make sure nobody could hear their conversation. Luckily for her, the others were much too far away to hear what they were saying, but time was quickly running out and she knew it.

"On my seventh attack I'll slip by your left side and knock you across the side of head. Don't worry, i've done it before. You will fall unconscious but will wake up a moment later when the danger has passed."

"Just what am I agreeing to exactly? " Hysteria sighed.

"Relax. You don't really have a choice anyway."

Miria raced for Hysteria, making sure to release her yoki to the levels close to before to avoid suspicion. Though fighting back, Hysteria appeared to be playing along, though keeping her feverish stare upon Miria the entire time throughout their calculated duel. After the sixth phantom, Miria held her breath, prepared her muscles for another instant burst, and when she was ready, she raced for her opponents' left side as was agreed, and held her breath for what was to come.

Expecting Hysteria to take advantage of this moment and kill her, Miria couldn't believe it when Hysteria actually seemed to keep her word and remained as still as a statue with an exposed side. Because she was so sure that Hysteria would betray her, Miria intentionally shot at an off angle only to provoke a reaction from her combat parter but not be close enough to do anything.

Hysteria looked back at her with a confused expression, "Are you...trying to mess with my head? That was the seventh one was it not!"

Throwing this most elegant warrior a simple smile, Miria replied, "I'm sorry... forgive me. One more time,"

"I really do hate you..."

Shooting forward, Miria swooped by Hysteria's exposed side, going for a quick knee to the side of the head, throwing the taller warrior unconscious and causing her body to collapse to the ground. Grabbing her fallen figure, Miria placed the warrior soundly around her shoulders, sighing in relief that it was all over.

_Hysteria actually kept her word..._

_Perhaps there's some room for redemption left in her._

_I admit I was wrong to judge you so early... _

Miria's thoughts ended as soon as she could see the regulators along with the others now approached curiously.

"Wow Miria...you actually beat Hysteria The Elegant! She's supposed to be a legendary number one so what does that make you?" Helen said.

Ophelia and Deneve were a little more skeptical, scrutinizing this odd situation Miria bore upon them. Most of the regulators and oblivious crowd, however, had no idea about what just happened and simply cheered in their oblivious roars.

"Hand her over. I'll take care of her from now on." Ophelia hissed.

"Sorry, but I promised something and I don't go back on my promises. Hysteria stays with me for the time being." Miria said, looking warmly at the peaceful warrior that rested against her shoulder.

"She better not cause any trouble under your watch Miria..." Ophelia sighed, "If she does then i'd be stuck with the paperwork and if that happens you're dead as well as her."

As if almost hissing at her, Miria said, "They make you do paperwork here? Did they make you their puppet all over again?"

Ophelia smirked with a pleasing arrogance, "No of course not. I merely make the number three do it and then I sign in the end."

"Well Raki told me that he's number two,"

"Don't believe that liar. He was cute and all but now he's just being a bit of a jerk. You don't want to see that man angry, or maybe you do if you change the perspective..."

"As if he...would ever touch slime like you..." Miria said.

"Watch it Miria...I could send you to the stocks you know."

"We have your back Miria, but in this case I do agree with Ophelia. Hysteria is dangerous and untrustworthy. You know especially what she's capable of..." Deneve said

"I'm glad I have your concern Deneve, but this is between me and her. Besides, we still have Roxanne and Cassandra to deal with, and not to mention that dragon-kin. " Miria said.

Everyone seems to be heading towards Teresa's direction... we should probably check out what's going on." Helen said.

-"Miria." A powerful voice said from the blue.

Turning over, Miria was awestruck to see none other than Rafaela arriving over. From the cold expression to her to the distinct scar across her eye, there was no doubt who this was. This was a warrior who had lived longer than any of their kind, and was at a level above of that which could be called an average number one. Rafaela's rank was once number five during her time, but had a history that eluded both her and the archives.

"Rafaela...what are you doing here?" Miria said.

"It just so happens i've been brought forth from the dead. So I suppose i'd make the best of it and help you take down the organization."

Taking notice of the unconscious Hysteria across Miria's shoulders, Rafaela smirked, "That one across your shoulder...I wonder how you managed to catch her?" Rafaela said.

"Well let's just say i'm lucky. Is there anything else I should know? I suppose you all arrived from the island? So then Audrey was successful?"

Rafaela raised a brow, "Well she left with Rubel and yes it was her that led me along with the other warriors to the ship."

"Excellent. Then it's all going to plan so far." Miria smirked.

"Hey just what game are you playing Miria?" Helen said accusingly, "So Audrey didn't betray us?"

"I've underestimated you Miria as always," Deneve smirked.

"I'll explain later. For now we rendezvous with Irene and check upon on Teresa."

* * *

Moving down across the sides of the colosseum, Luciela sneaked her way through to the lower chambers of the giant building. Avoiding the guards, she effortlessly headed down a series of darkened hallways as she headed towards her goal. Meeting the end of the walkway, she kicked down a single door and smirked at a gobsmacked Riful and Dauf whom stood in the centre of a rather large darkened room. Giant steel cages contained monstrous yoma and awakened, as well as some other creatures that emitted no yoki and looked more like Dragons. Whatever this place was, Riful had probably already have found out by now, and it was this reason Luciela had tracked her down.

"You!..I could have sworn you fused with your sister! what are you doing here!" Riful screeched, completely flabbergasted.

-"Stay the hell away from Riful!" Dauf roared.

Luciela grinned shamelessly at them as she licked her lips, "Oh please as if i'm interested in a big fight right now, I merely came to talk."

"Talk?" Riful said curiously, gesturing Dauf to calm down and continue to inspect this new place they discovered, "Well there's nothing wrong with a bit of talk. I suppose it was Audrey who probably led you here."

"How did you know what?" Luciela said.

"I have my ways of knowing things. So I see you took that pill too? doesn't it just feel so nostalgic?" Riful said.

"It's been a very long time...but too be honest i'm only staying like this to avoid suspicion. As soon as things go my way i'm turning back." Luciela said running her hands across the bars of a cage that contained a strange dragon-like beasts.

"Human food isn't so bad actually. i've only recently began to appreciate it." Riful said as she pulled out an apple from seemingly nowhere and took a fresh bite from it with a loud crunch.

"Disgusting...how can you eat that..." Luciela said.

Smirking at her delightfully Riful said, "Though i hate to admit it around others, I quite admire the sour taste. You should try."

"i'd rather not. So what is this place anyway?" Luciela said.

"Some sort of a dungeon. It seems the yoma among other things are all prisoners here. Some just used for combat and others for food. But I suspect you didn't just come to just talk..."

Stopping along the edge of a particularly nasty awakened behind enormous black bars, Luciela stared the overconfident creature down mercilessly on the other end until it whimpered off into the corner of its cage.

"If we combine forces we could do things twice as fast. When we destroy this place, we each take half the food and slaves left behind and leave on our way. We both want the same thing in the end do we not?"

Riful giggled with a haunting innocence, "You barely even came by to say hello for decades, and now after all this time you want to be my ally? That's awfully rude don't you think?"

"We never were good neighbors were we? But i'm afraid that times have changed and we can no longer afford to sleep while the world progresses." Luciela sighed.

"I agree. But just so you know, my original intention was to ally with you but Isley ruined everything..."

"You mean his woman messed everything up...Priscilla." Luciela said angrily.

"Yep. That man striked first and he eliminated you before I could get to you. But things have obviously changed so all this could work to our advantage. "

"Do you think we can convince these pathetic yoma and awakened to work for us?" Luciela smirked deliciously as she scanned the maze of giant cages around them.

"I have no doubt, but it would take a bit of time to convince them all. Dauf has already started on a few but ended up killing them by accident. Most are simply born and bred as colosseum meat and are stupider than the average human." Riful said.

"But you've always been famed for your recruiting methods Riful. I've heard whispers that out of us three you are the best when it comes to these things."

"Ah yes,"Riful said innocently, "That's probably true, but usually I make Dauf do these things for me."

"Well there's one use for that brute. I've always wondered why you keep him around."

"Unlike most others, he is quite trustworthy. Can't really say that for many others..." Riful replied throwing Luciela a snakelike glance.

"It's not like I trust you either. In the end we can either either kill each other or go our separate way."

"Well then let's get the recruitment started." Riful said.

* * *

_Miria and the others are no longer in combat..._

_And are all heading straight for me..._

_I wonder what's going on?_

Looking over at Priscilla annoyingly, Teresa was dismayed to see the younger warrior stubbornly defending her from Marcus, though quite unsuccessfully at that. Marcus was simply someone Priscilla couldn't handle in her current form, especially after being an awakened one for such a long time beforehand. The threat of Priscilla awakening was quite large, and this was a situation Teresa did not particularly want.

Sending a series of clever sword combinations towards Cassandra, Teresa was quick to notice the warrior wobble her head at the very last moment to dodge her strikes effortlessly. Falling back to gaze over curiously upon Cassandra, Teresa scanned the yoki channels within this warrior's body, curious to figure out the nature of this odd maneuver.

Looking back at this strange warrior, Teresa said, "Good trick. But all tricks are figured out in the end."

"Whatever...I've had enough...so i'll..." Cassandra said.

Watching with a hawklike glare, Teresa jolted the moment Cassandra's body lowered to the ground in a gyro motion and rapidly came swinging over at her arms from inhuman angles. Though she parried the attacks rather simply, this was a technique Teresa had never seen before, and hadn't even remotely imagined something like it. It was almost as if Cassandra rolled her body on the ground like a snake, pouching upwards towards the closest limb in thunderously quick movements.

As the seconds ticked by Cassandra appeared to be getting faster and better at aiming for weak spots but Teresa saw through her movement and attempted a strike towards the centre of balance but jumped back in alarm as Cassandra threatened her arm off completely.

Teresa smirked as she broke away." You lack in sheer power, but you use this technique to make up for it. Pretty clever. I can see why you were number one." Teresa said.

"It's not something i'm proud of, but I can kill anything with this technique. Even you." Cassandra said.

"You think so? And just why do you want to kill me again?"

"Because...well, I just know I have to." Cassandra said sounding quite unsure herself.

"So you're just brainwashed? I feel sorry for you." Teresa said.

"I am not brainwashed..."

"No? then why are you attacking me then? is it because I did something against you?"

Cassandra remained silent as she wiped the dust off the side of her face. Listening on to Teresa, her recent decisions suddenly came into question as of late. In all honesty, almost everything was still a blur to her, and Teresa was merely a distraction she had mentally focused on to keep her mind at bay from over thinking. There was a lot with Roxanne that was still very questionable to her, and perhaps she didn't have her priorities straight after all.

"...Do you happen to know Rafaela? you have a similar fighting style as that one." Cassandra said.

"Rafaela...how do you know that name?" Teresa shot over curiously.

"I suppose you wouldn't know. But Rafaela is among others who had recently arrived in this place. Myself, Roxanne and Hysteria came in search of you..."

Teresa purred with a gentle innocence, "That is very interesting. So I imagine Rafaela's probably quite close by then..."

"Probably. Were you her mentor or something?"

Teresa smiled gently, "Not exactly, but I wonder what she's doing now after all of a sudden..."

* * *

Sorry for ending the chapter like this but it was already getting a little long and I decided to work on characterisation over pure action. So now the action in the colosseum has just started and the next chapter will probably answer any questions you might have so just wait patiently and I shall deliver.


	56. Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Finished the chapter and held nothing back when i wrote this. I found myself quite fascinated now that the dragon kin are starting to be revealed in the actual manga, so this chapter is my interpretation of them. Had a bit of fun writing this and i hope you guys enjoy reading it just as much. In reply to what people have been saying yes I am aware that Hysteria knew Teresa, what a twist right? Could possibly work well for me actually. Thanks to all the people taking their time to review and contributing to this fan fiction of mine.

* * *

Arriving back the at the colosseum, Galatea noticed Teresa and Cassandra engaged in battle in the centre of the battlefield down below, whilst most of the others merely watched from the sidelines. Next to them, Priscilla seemed a little less fortunate in her battle against Marcus, appearing to have taken the pill from Rubel and merely fought in an atrophied body.

Thanks to her half awakening, Galatea's senses appeared to have sharpened greatly from before. There was less noise in the background and the data gathered around her far clearer and easier to read. She was not worried for Teresa in particular, bit Priscilla on the other hand was near awakening herself and was near the point of concern.

Taking notice of another interesting source of yoki, Galatea hastily made her way down the sides of the structure, finding the entrance to an underground section of the facility. Moving down a multitude of sections Galatea arrived upon a huge mirky dungeon encasing hundreds if not thousands of yoma, awakened ones, and even some odd dragon like creatures. Curiously enough, Raki along with Anastasia and Dietrich were just up ahead, and further ahead was both Riful and Luciela at the far end of the chamber.

Galatea moved silently through the prison like complex, ignoring the hysterical reaction she got from a few of the caged yoma that seemed just a little too excited to see her. Through all this yoki surrounding them there was nobody else, except her, could sense anything at all down here."

"Galatea...Thought you stayed back at Rabona." Raki said in surprise as she approached them.

"I decided the best way to protect the people of the city is to take the organization down from within first. So now i'm here." Galatea said.

"So where's Isley huh? you two were inseparable last night..." Anastasia sneered, looking for any signs of him but seeing nothing.

Raki said, " Clare told me he was dead... what a resilient bastard."

"He's alive and well, but we should get back to the situation at hand." Galatea said.

"True. We came here to discover what Luciela and Riful are doing. We should probably split up and and report back in this spot in 5 minutes. If anyone gets caught we come to their defense and then scatter. Though they are both abyssal level they are not awakened yet so their powers are reduced to a degree," Dietrich said.

As soon as Dietrich and Anastasia slipped away into the shadows, Galatea called out to Raki,

-"Wait. Let me ask you something..."

Raki turned around curiously, "Huh what do you want to know?"

"Is it right or wrong to lie to someone to protect them?" Galatea said.

"Depends on the situation. But in the end I would say always go with your gut no matter what it is. But why do you ask? "

"No reason..."

"Hey so where exactly is Isley anyway?" he said curiously.

I'm not sure. But i don't think he wants to be found at the moment."

"Just like him." Raki snorted.

"Tel me...What...was he like with you and Priscilla?" Galatea said.

"Huh? oh well he was basically like a big brother to me. Taught me how to fight and everything. He seemed to care for Priscilla a fair deal as well."

"Yeah I bet he did..."

"No not in that way," Raki laughed the comment off, "Priscilla was actually someone that could kill him on the spot so he was actually wary of her."

"I understand. that's all I wanted to know," Galatea said.

-"You seem pretty focused on Isley at the moment. Don't tell me he got to you?"

Galatea tossed him a challenging look, "Got to me?"

"Yeah. Isley's always done well with the women. Before the abyssal feeders came, we would often have strange women being brought back and forth from the inns we stayed at. If you truly met him He would no doubt try his moves on you." Raki said.

"That's really none of your business. Besides, I ran into Audrey suprisingly enough..." Galatea said.

"So she's alive i'm glad to hear. Where is she?" Raki said.

"Left with Rubel."

"Figures," he said.

"You don't trust her?" Galatea asked.

"Why should I? Our last meeting was big a big slap to the face. She's probably working as a spy for Rubel. I'm glad she's alive but thats all."

* * *

Watching Cassandra go up against Teresa was something of a joke to Roxanne. The two of them were a perfect contrast of each other. While one fought in the ugliest manner she's ever seen, the other seemed almost divine in her movements and technique, using just the right amount of speed and wit to escape the dust eater's grasp.

Moving low towards the ground, Cassandra created a chaotic cyclone around Teresa that seemed to focus strikes especially for her legs, but was yet to be successful in crippling the graceful warrior. Armed with merely a faint smile and her wit, Teresa fought back quite soundly against Cassandra and her menacing technique without any sign of fatigue or irritance across her calm stature. It was apparent the dust eater was an attack that relied mostly on confusion, followed by a baron of attacks strange angles and from all sides, but even with this disadvantage it was clear the wavy haired warrior could hold out on her own.

As the fight continued on, however, there was something very interesting Roxanne had quickly come to notice. Not only were Teresa's movements utter perfection, but it was her reaction time that appeared to transcend even that itself. Moving the moment before her opponent to avoid being struck. Against the dust eater, fighting back was supposed to be completely impossible. It would take a warrior many times stronger than that of Cassandra just to compensate, but Teresa, it seemed was someone completely in her own league, even beyond those that would be considered abyssal ones.

"Cassandra the Dust Eater...I've heard stories but I have to say I was not expecting anything like this..." Irene said.

Roxanne grinned over blatantly beside her, "By moving her head from side to side and using it as a pendulum, Cassandra can swoop in under her opponent's feet and strike from rather strange and awkward angles. Though it's effective, it's also the saddest technique a number one's ever had...Now you know what i've had to deal with..."

"Actually, Now I can see why you hated Cassandra so much." Irene said.

"You think you know me so well? I don't remember keeping a diary or something of my life." Roxanne said.

"Cassandra was somebody from the very beginning who you could never hope to defeat. During your era, it was Cassandra that was the true number one, not you."

Roxanne threw Irene a snakish stare, almost hissing "My what are you trying to say? Are you suggesting I had something to do with her death? That's quite an accusation there... "

"It's just strange..." Irene said, "As you rose through the ranks, others seem to suffer mysterious deaths. When you reached the rank of number two, Cassandra's death followed shortly afterwards..."

Right at that moment the arrival of a group of warriors caught their attention, and the two of them turned around to see Miria approaching them with Hysteria resting soundly across her shoulder. Beside her was Rafaela, followed closely by Helen and Deneve who had their gazes focused to the front like laser. For a moment, Irene had the wind knocked out from her from she noticed Rafaela and her single deathly eye upon her.

"Glad to see you're alive." Rafaela said.

"Funny you of all people say that." Irene said.

Miria set her sights upon Roxanne for a moment, taking quick notice of the warrior's strange glance upon her and the unconscious Hysteria. It was a stare that made her feel quite uncomfortable.

"Oh dear...You actually caught that one? You must be something else..." Roxanne leered.

Miria didn't respond to her at first. Instead, she turned over her shoulder and smiled gently as she brushed Hysteria's dangling hair back neatly before lowering the unconscious warrior safely to the ground to rest.

"And you must be Roxanne..." Miria said warily.

"That's right, and someone like you must be the rebellion leader..."

"Maybe she is or maybe she isn't," Ophelia said, "Depending on how long you live you may never know either."

"Just who are you supposed to be? Somebody important?" Roxanne said.

"Yeah well At least i'm not a walking corpse."

Roxanne scowled over at Ophelia, but before she could respond the fight between Teresa and Cassandra drew ever closer to them, and the sound of their blades grew louder as a sudden breeze blew the dust cloud created by Cassandra over towards them.

"This Teresa is simply ridiculous! I would have never thought such power and technique were even possible amongst our kind!" Roxanne said.

Irene nodded over at her, "Clearly yoki synchronization is your specialty, so I'm sure somebody like you would have figured it out by now..."

"Well it's not possible to go against Cassandra with natural reflexes alone... Even amongst our kind, there are certain limitations to what's possible. So that leads one only thing left. Teresa must somehow be able to predict attacks made against her..."

"One of the sharper ones. Fitting for somebody of your title I suppose. Irene said.

"Not as sharp as you, clearly." Roxanne said with a devilish slick grin.

"Well then if you think so high of me then let me offer you some advice. Never underestimate Teresa." Irene said.

Rafaela suddenly stiffened on to the conversation closely.

"That sounds more like a warning." Roxanne smiled.

" There was someone a very long time ago who I thought could pose a challenge to Teresa. Her name was Priscilla, and at the time, her raw potential seemed limitless. I submitted my rank as number two with merely one glance upon Priscilla's abilities, and was demoted to number three by default. We attacked Teresa one fateful day, But what I did not take into account was Priscilla's inexperience. Never before had she even fought against an awakened one, nor even engaged in a serious fight against one of her own kind. In the end, I had underestimated Teresa and because of my foolishness Priscilla was left defeated and humiliated for the first time in her life."

Roxanne seemed far too interested to even say anything for a moment, and merely stood there to await the next words. She caught Irene's gaze upon the distant Priscilla, and could immediately tell that was the said warrior spoken of.

"So that's her huh? oh wow she can hide her aura so well...But i can still make a out a little... so what exactly happened back then?" Roxanne said with her arms crossed, taking notice of the distant battle and a strange man wielding a long metallic spear that fought against her.

Irene nodded, "There were many resurrected ones brought back from the dead lately. Let's just say both Priscilla and Teresa can be thought of in this category."

"Something tells me there's more to that story than you're letting out..."

"Ofcourse there is," Rafaela interrupted, "But that's all somebody like you should know for now."

* * *

The man moved like one of them, his skill and dexterity far superior to that of an ordinary human, possessing a weapon with twice the range than his smaller opponent, Priscilla. His double edged spear was a weapon none of their kind had ever encountered back on the island, and the way in which he fought seemed to focus on toppling his opponent's sense of balance to gain the upper hand, and so far it seemed to be working very well. Though Priscilla should have kept him rather busy, Marcus's attention throughout the battle seemed to be drawn to other places, and much to Teresa's surprise, it was mostly directed at her. She often caught his gaze upon her, curious about the manner in which he looked at her.

_Ugh..._

_Why is he just staring at me?_

_It's actually quite annoying..._

_..._

_Well as for myself..._

Teresa quickly snapped to attention as she narrowly avoided the tip of Cassandra's blade aiming for her ankles, moving as quick and as precisely as a snake pouncing to its prey. A succession of corresponding strikes followed, aiming for her hands and then back down towards her feet, but they were all successfully blocked or simply dodged by the graceful warrior. Cassandra attempted to compensate by releasing more and more of her yoki energy, but no matter how much she released Teresa, as always, managed to stay one step ahead of her. It didn't take long for the dust eater to reach a point of yoki release most would consider dangerous, and the aggressiveness of her tactics made it seem her devotion to winning was something almost abnormal. Though they had only just met, Cassandra acted as though the person she was fighting was her mortal enemy.

_What's with Cassandra?_

_She moves in such a way that in normal conditions i'm unable to even reach her without being cut..._

_On top of that her blade moves as though it's swooping right beneath my feet..._

_Should be almost impossible to dodge..._

_But unfortunately for her, i'm simply that much better..._

Though Cassandra constantly alternated her close to the ground movements, Teresa could predict it all, and had already had set an attack course in her mind. Seeing an opportunity, Teresa thundered forward, skillfully spinning through mid air, dodged the forthcoming swoop from Cassandra and struck her blade across the area she knew to be flesh. As always, Teresa ended up right, and the weight of flesh could be felt across her weapon erupting a shower of blood in it's wake as she passed by.

The strike staggered Cassandra and made her lose control of her momentum, causing her to crash upon the dirt and momentarily, erupting a loud roar from the crowds around them. Teresa merely watched on as Cassandra recovered fairly quickly and shook this wound off like it was nothing and continued to hold no to her weapon with a solid grip of her dominant left hand.

Raising her blade, Teresa threw her merciful stare,"Turn back. You're already approaching your limit. You're a former number one so somebody like you should already know that very well."

Cassandra, in her grotesque yoma changing body, was clearly fighting a losing battle with her inner awakened self. All signs pointed that she was already approaching the point of no return, and her face already began to look like that of a yoma. Her Teeth grew sharper, and her eyes began to glow with an all to familiar demonic hatred. To Teresa, This was a situation that seemed eerily similar to a one a very long time ago, and she wasn't particularly thrilled to be experiencing this moment of deja vu again.

"This is your last chance," Teresa said again, her silver eyes almost glowing, "Turn back or it'll be too late, and then I can do nothing to help you."

Cassandra seemed to babble something to herself hysterically, but after a short moment her words became perfectly clear as she yelled furiously,

"My friend... The only true friend I ever had! How dare you take her from me!"

"Friend? I don't think i've ever met you before. I would have remembered." Teresa said.

" My friend meant everything to me! The first true friend i've ever had! But you just couldn't stand it could you! I'LL CUT YOU UP INTO PIECES SO SMALL THAT YOU'LL LOOK LIKE NOTHING BUT A PILE OF SHIT STAINED IN THE DIRT!"

* * *

Watching from the sidelines in complete awe, Roxanne couldn't help but feel terribly excited at this new turn of events. It was almost unbelievable to her. Cassandra had chosen the best possible time to remember her past, and even better yet, it appeared as though she had also lost her mind and simply lashed out from pure delusional hatred. It was a trick Cassandra had fallen for once before, but unluckily for the dust eater, her opponent was no ordinary warrior.

Irene was the only one amongst the group that took notice of the strange look to Roxanne, and for some reason had an equally strange feeling in her gut. Roxanne's smile turned into a sadistic grin as Cassandra suddenly lashed out against Teresa as she approached awakening. Looking back at Teresa, she noticed that Cassandra's limbs seemed to extend a further arms' length with each passing swing of her giant sword against a cautious Teresa.

"Hey what just what the hell is that?" Helen said, gazing at something that caught her eye in the crowds the far front of the colosseum.

An eruption of broken wood and debree exploded, and all eyes turned their upon the Terrified mass of people from the northern end of the colosseum than fled from the arrival of a massive scaled beast that crushed the podium beneath it. Like before, this was a monster than almost seemed half human in appearance, similar to an awakened being but more animalistic in nature. It's roar made the ground beneath their feet rumble from its deep tones, forcing the attention of all the combatants and regulators. Before long, others amongst the panicked crowd awakened also, replacing their smaller bodies into something hundreds of times bigger and surrounded their targets.

"Interesting...we've had a few sneak in before but there's never been this many of them at once..." Ophelia said.

-"Great. Irene any pointers?" Miria said.

While the others seemed preoccupied with something else, Roxanne's focus was still entirely upon Teresa. The fact that they were getting invaded was completely irrelevant when a fight between Teresa and Cassandra was just about to start.

She had come up with an idea. Synchronizing her yoki with Teresa, she made sure to first make herself completely invisible to the wavy haired warrior, then having a little fun in messing around with her senses.

_Lets see how good you really are... _

_i'll just tease you a little..._

_Hope you don't mind._

* * *

The moment Cassandra's blade managed to slice apart a bit of her clothes, Teresa knew this was somebody she couldn't afford to mess around with. Being one of the more powerful number ones in history, Cassandra's strength and agility had increased many times over from normal, and already it had reached a point where it became dangerous for them both to continue on like this.

_I have the upper hand because I can read her movements..._

_It would be quite the challenge without it normally..._

_Forgive me Cassandra... I did not wish for it to go this far..._

The moment Teresa Reached for the deep reserves of yoki to finnish the fight, her attention was drawn to her side as a loud explosion drew her focus. To her amazement a giant draconic beast roared down the far end of the colosseum, almost crushing the sides of the building as it crawled downwards.

At that same time Teresa felt a sudden strange sensation in her mind that hit like a tone of bricks. The world around her briskly fell into a chilling silence, and for a split second she had lost track of Cassandra's blade as it fell to a blur. Lost to a panic, Teresa hurried to release her dormant powers, but the moment her eyes sparked a demonic yellow Cassandra's blade had done it's damage. Teresa's mind felt silent as her dominant hand flew hopelessly through the air. The deadly cocktail of pure disbelief and fear playing in her mind. And for the second time in her life, she choked.

* * *

Roxanne jumped in alarm when she could feel the distress radiating through Teresa, and before the others could even react, she hurried over towards the warrior in desperation. Unsheathing her blade, Roxanne flooded her arm with yoki and tried her best to focus it's power up against a certain direction, and much to her amazement, it fell Cassandra's way. Distracting the crazed warrior for only a split second, Roxanne grabbed an astonished Teresa before Cassandra could finnish her and raced to get her out of there, leaving behind a trail of dust behind from the rapid winds of the quicksword.

Panting, Roxanne squinted her eyes as she tried to locate Cassandra through the blinding dust cloud in front of them. Beside her, Teresa merely stood with a distraught look to her, seemingly unaware of what just transpired. Her eyes reduced to their more vulnerable silver state. In a way Roxanne felt a little bad for what she did to Teresa, but on the other hand it was also an effective way to open up further exploitation, she thought.

"Hey Teresa! Can you hear me? I'm Roxanne."

At first Teresa wasn't sure what she heard, but gradually her mind returned to her as she looked over at this strange new warrior that moved her over to this new place. She didn't know exactly what was going on, but was thankful she was alive and quickly snapped to attention. Scanning the warrior beside her more closely,

"Thanks...what?...I'm not sure what came over me..." Teresa said, bewildered and looking gloomily at where her dominant hand used to be.

"Hey don't be so harsh on yourself! it's not exactly your fault and this is the first time you ever fought against that horrendous technique...but you should probably stop playing around and just end this." Roxanne said.

"I suppose you're right," Teresa said, throwing this strange new warrior an accusing stare, "So forgive me as I need to borrow your weapon."

Without hesitation Roxanne threw Teresa her sword to which was caught soundly by with her left hand. Shaking away away the last of her nerves, Teresa concentrated her attention forward. There was a giant yoki signature that concentrated around a huge object hidden behind the dispersing dust cloud left after the awakening ahead.

_How could I be so careless? _

_To stare death itself in the face for a second time..._

_Never again...I can't afford to play around anymore. _

Locating the position of her fallen limb through the mounds of dust, Teresa released ten percent of her inner powers, relieved like nothing else to feel the incredible surge of power that made her a very many times faster than in her original state. This level of release that once forced Priscilla to her knees and beg to end her life while on the verge of awakening. There was nobody else in this entire place that could rival herself or Priscilla's level of yoki either she thought, but in the end it simply didn't matter. Priscilla's potential had been wasted. Her awakened form had still manifested into an insanely strong creature though, and that was the second great power that opposes her own.

"Oh wow what the hell you're simply incredible..." Roxanne said, the nerves in her knees tightening at the sudden surge of Yoki that Teresa erupted outwards.

"I'll take care of this one. You attack the invaders -" Teresa said.

The moment Teresa said that her attention was drawn to her side and she jumped in alarm to see Marcus suddenly dash towards her with his weapon raised, ready to strike. Teresa Reacted like thunder to block his initial attack, the force of the attack so severe it caused her off balanced for a split second and race to evade the next succession of attacks.

Teresa glared at him with her dealthy, golden glare, "Look at yourself, sucker punching a woman yet again. I thought you'd have learned your lesson from last time."

"I tend to think of it as taking you by surprise. "I'm only testing you further. And besides you dropped this. Go ahead and Reattach it."

Teresa thrust her claymore into the ground, freeing her hand to grab the fallen limb he threw at her. Curiously enough it was her own. Unsure what to think of this, she placed it back in its place and began the less than thrilling process of reattachment.

"By the way I saw what happened back then. You froze didn't you?" Marcus said.

Teresa glared at him coldly,- "What's it to you?"

"Just saying its alright. Even the best of us screw up sometimes. "

"The ones who stay alive are the ones who get things done quick." Teresa said.

"I agree. No more playing around let's settle who's stronger right here and now."

"So do you know these beasts?" Teresa said, feeling the bone regenerate soundly.

"Not really, they hate me equally as much." Marcus said, eying down one of them that gave him a look he didn't like.

* * *

"Hey! get your own!" Roxanne yelled in frustration over at this intruding man that attacked Teresa. Her words fell upon deaf ears, infuriating her further.

Having given over her claymore to Teresa, Roxanne knew all to well that her combat potential was now severely limited without her trusty weapon. Also, now that Cassandra had awakened and the entire place was being invaded, she would have to locate a weapon, and the closest was Teresa's fallen blade that she had luckily remembered to keep the location of.

The dust settled around Cassandra's new form, and Roxanne raced for Teresa's fallen weapon that glistened in the sun a short distance to the awakened beings' side. Naturally she caught Cassandra's attention, but not before the Claymore was already steadily in her grip. Noticing who this was, the top humanoid potion of Cassandra drooled with wide- sadistic grin across her beneath the giant mass of her lower body.

"Roxanne. Now it all makes sense. I remember everything now..." Cassandra said, drooling from high above her enormous new body.

-"HAHA but look at that ridiculous body of yours! I wonder if your fighting style is still the same as before!"

"You are lower than that of shit. A mere number two like you could never hoped to surpass me. But you just couldn't stand that between us I was the better...so you devised a plan to get rid of me. Isn't that right Roxanne?" Cassandra said, stretching her humanoid potion closer towards Roxanne almost like that of a snake with a venomous look to her crazed yellowed eyes.

-"Well I can't blame you for hating me...But still, in the end at least I would die as a human and not something like you! A gut feasting monster dust eater? You've just surpassed yourself in sheer ridiculousness!"

"I'll cut you up into tiny bits whilst making sure and keep you alive for as long as possible...the same ordeal you put me through back then." Cassandra said, her voice deepening in anger.

-"You simply can't make up your mind! first you love me and now you hate me!" Roxanne teased, raising her blade cautiously at the approaching being before her.

Blazing off to the side, the giant Cassandra swung her massive awakened self like a vortex around Roxanne, with only the vulnerable, human portion remaining alone in the centre of the whirlpool. Though awakened, the manner at which the technique remained the same, and the only weak spot was in fact the very centre, and she knew Roxanne would want to keep their battle as close to there as possible. Instead of a single claymore sword in her possession, Cassandra possessed a multitude of tentacles with flesh feasting heads across the ends that she dragged around in the dirt and swung her opponents way.

Roxanne attempted to replicate Teresa's preemptive technique but found it quite difficult to control. She knew she could read yoki pretty well, but obviously not as well as Teresa. It didn't end up being much help anyways as she attempted to pierce Cassandra's humanoid torso but was forced to avoid a multitude to stray attacks from the awakened. Proving fast enough, she narrowly avoided the attempts to kill her and responded by summoning the power of the quicksword. Before it could do any damage however, a stray attack by Cassandra's caught her off guard and the impact flung her over across the the battlefield hundreds of meters backwards. A little of her side had been eaten off too, and already her movements have dropped by a large margin.

_Damn that technique is tough I have to admit though..._

_Yep. Even in her awakened form Cassandra still does the same thing... _

_With her speed, I have no hope to win..._

_How ridiculous...to die against such a pathetic fighting style like Cassandra's..._

To Roxanne's dismay, Instead of hitting the cold ground her body was caught by someone of no doubt an impressive strength. Lowered to the ground, Roxanne looked over at this person who had caught her and noticed it to be Priscilla, the one who had killed Teresa once before. She had clear cuts across her skin and clothes, and marked with dirt marks from her furious battle against Marcus. Her eyes glowed a neon yellow, clearly the only thing that was left to power that defeated body of hers.

Quite a strong awakened one...This is just so inconvenient...this body of mine isn't able to keep up with the commands that I make in my mind. It's quite maddening really." Priscilla sighed.

"What are you doing! Do you intend to fight Cassandra?" Roxanne said.

"Yes. I don't know who you are, but I saw you assist Teresa so i'll assume your on our side for now." Priscilla said.

"Roxanne is my name. Former number one actually. But i've heard the most interesting of stories lately so I must hear the truth from you. Did you fight and kill Teresa once before?" Roxanne said.

Priscilla threw her an astonished look, "I don't need to explain myself to somebody like you."

"How did you do it? It's obvious Teresa's stronger than you so you must have used dirty tricks to win.".

"Just who are you?" Priscilla said with an astonished look to her.

"So it's true? I only made a guess and it seems I was right...wow your bad..."

Cassandra approached them by moving herself like that of a pendulum, launching a single one of her many slimy limbs towards them. Roxanne hurried to evade the attack, but marveled at the way Priscilla, though being wounded managed to not only evade but counter by removing the giant head before it even had a chance to swing it back ground for another shot.

Cassandra moaned from atop her organic fortress, "You may as well go ahead and reach your limit. You're already an awakened being like me all along. Though You would also still taste like shit unfortunately."

"Consider yourself lucky," Priscilla smirked over, "At least you remember who you are. When I awakened I had almost no sense of existence, living on to life by the narrowest of threads. The only thing I had in my head for sure was a very vague memory of a moment that changed my life forever but never actually remembering what that was..."

Cassandra merely leered on in lazily, "Cry me a river. I don't care about your little story. So its all an illusion that you are a claymore, big deal. What's important is that I'm so hungry and I just need to eat something but Roxanne tastes like shit and I doubt you could be any worst..."

Oddly enough, Roxanne's yoki had disappeared from her radar, and at that moment Priscilla turned around she felt the harsh steel of none other than Roxanne's sword pierce through her her abdomen She should have known not to trust Roxanne, and let her guard down recklessly.

"What the hell? what are you doing..." Priscilla said, blood pouring out her mouth.

"So the queen of cheap shots becomes a victim herself? You're probably a little too strong so let's see you fight Cassandra wounded to this extent. Or better yet just awaken and take on the entire place!" Roxanne said pulling out her blade.

* * *

Hysteria woke to a mass of crazed sounds and roars that echoed around the evacuated grounds of the colosseum. As she regained her full consciousness, she looked over and noticed Miria and quite a few others standing around her caught up in battles against many giant dragon beasts that invaded the entire place. She rubbed the side of her head where Miria had stuck her, groaning as the pain could still be felt across her skull. Though she was number one, there weren't many times when somebody else was able to lay a hand on her, with the exception of her final day of course. Still, she was appreciative that Miria had kept her promise. With a sigh she raised herself to her feet, picking up her blade was more than probably conveniently lay next to her curtsy of Miria.

Around her, the group of warriors surrounded an approaching dragon beast in a circular motion giving them a pre-emptive strike advantage. Mira was the first to strike. She slashed into the side of the beast, but was forced to evade its retaliating swings with her phantom speed bursts,whilst allowing a coordinated effort attack by Helen and Deneve which removed both the creatures arms. Yuma chucked her blade into the creatures chest, almost sealing the deal allowing Miria to end the fight by removing the creatures head soundly.

Noticing Hysteria, Miria called out. "Awake already? Good, why don't you help us out."

Ribbing the side of her head, Hysteria said, " What happened here? What did you guys do?"

-" Sometimes they manage to crawl in at night regardless of the security, no big deal." Ophelia said.

Another one charged towards them, but its movements were shackled as an arrow pierced into it's flesh upon one of its legs. Behind them, Skye pulled the strings of her second attack, then launched it soundly into the other leg as well, hindering the beast momentarily under it's own weight.

"Just like awakened beings they have weak spots. Leave these guys to me. I claim ownership to at least half the kills." Skye said, sending a third arrow into its throat.

"I like confidence! i really do! but out of everyone here I am by far the fastest and most agile. The claim is mine." Hysteria said.

"Ridiculous. I am the number one here so the claim is actually mine. " Irene said.

At that moment Miria turned around the moment she felt another hugely impressive aura suddenly made its presence known. Towards the other end of the colosseum was a figure that watched from afar from atop the edge of the building. Her eyes glowed like that of a faint ember, and her hair chin length hair that blew across her. Curiously enough the color was not a faded blonde from this morning, but now the lightest of browns instead.

* * *

_What's going on here?_

_The dragon kin are invading this place?_

_from within?_

Clare looked over at the distant wavy haired warrior who fought Marcus down the other end of the battlefield down below. Next to them was Priscilla busy against some strange awakened that that would probably give Riful a run for her money. Whatever was left of the regulators now seemed to concentrate on the awakened battle instead of assisting Teresa against Marcus. But then again Teresa wasn't the type to even want to ask for help anyway, Clare thought. This invasion by the dragon kin seemed quite serious, and she simply had to kill as many of them as possible to soften their impact. But at the same time she simply had to go make sure Teresa was alright, and that was what she was set to do.

Taking a leapt for the battlefield, Clare could feel Priscilla's yoki suddenly fall into a haze and then explode outwards in a quick burst. Watching on from a distance, The yoki condensed back towards a freshly awakened Priscilla, sporting her devilishly lush pair of wings across her back and A single horn poked from her forehead. This was a creature that surpassed the power of those called abyssal ones, someone only Teresa herself could dare face.

_So you awakened..._

_What will you do now?_

* * *

Lost admits the ecstasy of awakening, Priscilla took her first breath in her new body. She liked this body. It was as if all her potential manifested into a physical form, accelerating her capabilities to levels normally unbeatable. All her memories had returned to her and she just didn't feel like lying to herself any longer. She was an awakened being and she didn't feel like being beaten up any further by those inferior to her. As she suspected, most of dragon beasts now seemed drawn towards her, quickly lengthening her list of foes, but that shouldn't be a massive issue. Most were being killed off at an alarming pace by the regulators and especially Miria's group.

Smiling deviously at a much larger Cassandra, the one horned beast said, "I just love the sensation...don't you? To leave behind a life of weakness and succumb to an incredible power..."

Moving her body like a pendulum, Cassandra maneuvered herself away from the general facility, evading the multitude of incoming dragon beasts and leapt atop the edge of the colosseum ring, climbing her way up over the side. Priscilla was quick to follow, her darkened pink smirk almost infectious as she raced in for the killing blow across her human portion. Tossing her body around, Cassandra launched a volley of dust eating heads across her front but were all evaded by the sharp reactions of this new awakened.

"Fighting you is a little challenging i must admit. I've never seen anyone who fights like this before." Priscilla said.

Priscilla shot forward, avoided the swoops from Cassandra's technique, running her hand through Cassandra's shoulder, shattering it entirely. Grabbing one of the swung tentacles, Priscilla ripped off the appendage with a single arm.

"That's impossible! what the hell are you?" Cassandra said, horrified to see this unrelenting wound.

"No more questions, all you should know is tha-"

Caught by a sudden uppercut that sent her flying, Priscilla landed shakily on the ground a moment later. She recovered, Regenerating the shaven off potion of her head and whatever other parts of her body had been damaged.

_Damn that hurt._

Looking up over at the side of the colosseum, Priscilla saw Cassandra crawl her way out of the colosseum, more than likely with the intent to flee from the city. No doubt a lot of humans were going to get hurt in her way to freedom and Priscilla just couldn't let that happen. Truth be told she didn't know how many of these people here were even considered innocent, but there was also that deep lust for power that simply must be fed.

From the corner of her eye, Priscilla narrowly avoided a swoop from a mystery warrior with a single eye. Much to her horror it was someone from a very long time ago, Rafaela, the one who taught her how to fight and make proper use of her balance. The knowledge was very good, but at the time Teresa was just simply far ahead of her, and from the very beginning she was merely sent as a scapegoat.

"Rafaela. I know you remember me." Priscilla said, momentarily astonished.

Backing off, Rafaela leered over, "I'm sorry, but somebody like you is too dangerous to be kept alive."

"You told me that I could beat Teresa but that was a big lie wasn't it?" Priscilla smirked.

"I did what the organization had me do. The same as you."

Priscilla flexed her wings and leered at her carelessly, "Do you really think you can defeat someone like me?"

"No, but perhaps with his help I can." Rafaela said.

"Who? -"

Seeing a shadow over herself, Priscilla was crushed into the ground by a giant fist that slammed across her unsuspecting self. The impact crushed most of her bones and internals, but was quickly rejuvenated by her incredible new body. Wounds were nothing to worry about as long as her head was still somewhat in tact, but these dragon beasts were much stronger than normal awakened ones it seemed.

Rafaela's blade went for her neck, but she was faster and avoided the blow easily with her crippled body. Frustrated, Priscilla caught Rafaela off guard and punched her into the side of the wall. Unsurprisingly Rafaela was very powerful, but in the end there was but one who could keep up with her now. Gracefully evading the painfully obvious attacks of another dragon, Priscilla slipped behind it's neck and ripped out the creatures' spine like a long root deep in planted soil, forcing the few remaining ones to think twice about attacking her.

_Oh who's this?_

Priscilla turned around and marveled to see none other than Clare standing calmly before her. She looked the same as before except her eyes seemed richer in color and hair a more natural light brown. In a way Clare seemed different, but much the same in another. Already most of the dragons were destroyed, and now regulators collected by the dozens surrounding Priscilla, ready to eliminate this last threat. Now that Cassandra had long since left, there was now just one less monster to eliminate.

"Just couldn't resist the urge? Priscilla? " Clare said.

"You wish to fight right now? i'm a little busy if you don't mind." Priscilla said.

"Whatever, i'm heading for Teresa," Clare said.

"Well that's fine, but If this is the last time we meet then let me tell you one word of advice. Watch Roxanne." Priscilla said.

"Huh? what are you saying? who is this Roxanne that you speak of?"

"Just watch her. She's after Teresa." Priscilla said, eyeing the small crowd of regulators than now approached her threateningly.

"Fine. Good luck against all them," Clare smirked.

"Thanks. i'll try not to kill anyone."

"The moment you do i'll be on your back as well. So just excuse me as I must be going." Clare said, locking her gaze upon the warrior with long wavy hair who caught a frantic battle against Marcus.

* * *

Thanks for reading and any comments or suggestions you have please let me know as this story can change quite dramatically from now on. Thanks for reading and for the kind comments people are leaving!


	57. Chapter 57

chapter 57

Finally finished this chapter, and as addressed by my reviewers, I have advanced the story quite a bit while keeping the action scenes I feel are necessary for this story.

flyjunior - You're worries about a lack of romance I feel has been addressed in this chapter and will be a more prominent theme in possible further chapters.

Maegashira - Roxanne is simply the bad girl everyone loves to hate :P

Ann. Casap: Thanks for your kind reviews and I think you'll like what I did with Clare here.

Madman tobz - I know i feel bad for Cassandra too. i really do, but I feel I had to do what I did to connect future chapters and just for practicality. Also, your issues with the previous chapters especially Irene's dialogue may be a little confusing I suppose your right. I will probably change it around a bit.

gunzen- Thanks, i've been thinking about character deaths but who knows, maybe I will kill a few of them just to be mean lol

psi- aura- Yes i do read the manga and am aware Hysteria knew Teresa and will probably play around with that in this story.

- As for everyone else thank you for the feedback and enjoy.

* * *

Clare slipped through the mounds of regulators and draconic beasts as she dashed towards the centre of the battlefield where she would find Teresa. Feeling rejuvenated, she felt as light as the wind, moving as though skipping through her environment just as gracefully as the wavy haired warrior herself. This new body of hers felt just as similar as before, but was on a completely different level in terms of performance. Satisfied with her speed, Clare grew curious about her strength and decided to test her abilities on the biggest dragon she could see. There was one that that had just demolished the side of the colosseum and stubbornly hurried over to block her in her pursuit for Teresa. Clare sent a quick succession of strikes against the underside of its arm, but much to her regret, she wasn't greeted with much damage at all.

Releasing a little over ten percent of her yoki, Clare could feel an energy melt into every fibre of her being that made her muscles scream. Oddly enough, however, she also noticed that her hair turned only just a shade darker than before with the beginnings of a wavy complexion to it. The sharp increase in yoki forced the creature on the defensive as a a few dozen regulators surrounded the dragon enemy also, but before any of them could do anything, Clare raced forward, and ran her blade into it's neck with all her might.

Regretfully, she only managed to get it stuck about halfway instead, and a retaliating swipe of its Claws raced her way, but Clare proved faster and managed to pull her blade out and evade the strike and fall back. Panting from her ordeal , Clare blinked uncontrollably as a steady flow of blood leaked into the corner of her eye, a cut from one the many claws she was to careless to notice. Though her basic strength and agility had increased at least tenfold from last night, this monster sure didn't make it seem so. There was no doubt in her mind that it was strong, probably around the level of Riful at least.

Before she figured out a plan, a gust of wind passed by and before she knew it, Teresa herself suddenly touched down beside her in silence. Her eyes glowed an almost heavenly gold, and except for a mysterious cut across her right sleeve, she remained completely untouched.

"That was good Clare, your timing was almost perfect... i'm glad to see you're alive and well. But what's up with your hair? and why is it brown this time?" Teresa said.

"I'm not sure...just how brown is it?" Clare replied curiously.

"It's Pretty brown. But It suits you. I always thought the blonde was too plain." Teresa smiled gently, the two virtually ignoring the giant monster that threatened to charge them down at any moment.

Clare smiled back, "Thanks. And by the way did you really have black hair once?"

"The fairest."Teresa grinned proudly.

"I would have loved to see that. But we should probably kill that dragon over there. So if you're not too busy would you care to show me how it's done?"

Teresa looked over innocently as she pondered to herself for a moment, "Hmm, Alright but just give me a minute."

"A minute?-" Clare said, jumping in alarm as Teresa hurried to defend herself from a barrage of attacks from Marcus.

Clare wasn't sure what to think at the moment. Whether to help Teresa or simply stay put. In a way she knew Teresa's pride tended to get her in trouble, but the look to her almost made it seem that she already had it all figured out. The way she moved and fought against Marcus wasn't as if she was merely just watching it, but it seemed as if she 'felt' the battle happening before her, gathering valuable data on her competition. As hard as Clare tried, however, she could not sense a thing from Marcus.

Miria and the others approached from the back, along with Irene and two other strange warriors. One stood beside Miria and was tall and elegant with long hair and four neat braids tied across either side of her head. The other was a smaller warrior with hair tied into two neat bunches, but seemed a little less innocent that her face would imply.

"You seem so similar to Teresa...are you her sister or something?" Roxanne said.

"Not exactly...But who are you?" Clare replied.

"Roxanne."

"Roxanne huh...interesting." Clare said, cautiously examining her.

-"Clare you should watch out -" Miria said out loud, looking at something behind her.

Clare summoned a little more of her deep reserve of powers and jolted to evade a claw that raced to end her. In the blink of an eye, the tall one suddenly appeared before as well, and with a combined strike across an exposed sections of it's neck, they seared good portion off completely in a shower of blood.

"What's wrong? Does it surprise you that I can keep up with you?" Hysteria said.

Bewildered, Clare responded when the rest of the group jumped the beast with Miria and Irene clearly leading the charge. A few of the slower ones met their end against this beast, but luckily the extra experience Clare's group had learned from the past had clearly helped them avoid this fate. With wounds piling up, the colossal dragon's body faltered by all the strikes against it, and a carefully orchestrated strike by Both Miria and Hysteria ended the deal as they attacked in synchrony, swooping in from either with a clean decapitation of it's head.

Through the shower of blood that reigned from their attack, Miria merely found herself admiring Hysteria and her calm and incredibly precise movements. Though Hysteria was arrogant and only seemed to care for herself, there was still something that Miria found charming about her. She seemed just a little too proud of herself, and was obviously the type to demand all the attention around them. Someone who appreciated beauty and technique over anything else.

Possessing a figure of an hourglass and having a gentle face that screamed of pure personality, Hysteria was not only beautiful, but also the perfect embodiment of speed and power. In Miria's eyes, These were all admiring traits, but on the other hand Hysteria was also responsible for the massacre of many fellow comrades, and this was something Miria could never quite forgive.

"What are you smiling at Miria?" Hysteria smiled eagerly.

"I'm just merely admiring you a little."

"Oh please do stop with all these compliments...you might even make me blush a little." Hysteria said.

"But make no mistake, after all this ends, I will be the one to kill you" Miria said coldly, "So before that happens i'll just stay as close to you as possible and merely watch and learn your movements carefully..."

"Doesn't bother me. You can stay as close to me as you like, but it won't do you any good."

"I'm a quick learner, so you may want to watch me as well." Miria said.

Clare sighed at those two, before turning her gaze back upon Teresa and Marcus. Curiously enough, their battle had now moved more towards the north end of the colosseum, and further beyond this as they dashed over the sides and entered into the human half of the city.

"Marcus is fleeing..." Clare said.

"And Teresa will destroy him. Best if we focus our attention on to our new enemy." Irene said, turning over to a nearby awakened Priscilla that was now hopelessly overwhelmed by an amass of regulators.

"Enemy?" Clare said.

"Yes. Priscilla is our new enemy."

Clare looked over to her far side and noticed the one horned beast, Priscilla, was now engaged in serious conflict with a large number of regulators and other warrior combatants that surrounded her like a pack of hyenas. Though she didn't seem to even fight back, Priscilla managed to hold herself quite well against such a large number of opponents, but the challenge was clearly mounting on.

Miria and the others merely watched on helplessly as this punishing show. None were sure what to do in such a situation, or if it was simply best to let things unfold leave things to how destiny would have it.

"I find it quite strange that not even one of my regulators have been killed so far though," Irene said, "It seems that Priscilla is intentionally leaving them unharmed, but if she doesn't fight back she will eventually die."

"Of course Priscilla is well aware of her situation," Clare said, "But I suspect she may have planned this all along anyway."

"Hm What do you mean by that?" Miria said curiously.

"Priscilla knew she would awaken eventually, and just wants to cause as much damage to this place as possible before dropping dead." Clare said.

"What makes you so sure of that?" Irene said.

"Because that's what I would do if i was her."

* * *

Priscilla was quick to evaded a clever blow by one of the stronger guards that decided to strike her from the back. With a simple kick to the chest she dent his armor and sent him smashing into the colosseums sides. Three others charged in, followed by half a dozen more, each with the clear intent to kill. Every one of them that surrounded her had a look of hate and disgust when they looked at her, and that made Priscilla feel terribly uneasy. There was one day when she was just like them, a humble warrior with good intentions, strongly devoted to the cause of justice, even if it was all a lie.

_Why? _

_Why do they hate me so much? What did I ever do to them?_

_No matter. I'll simply do everything myself. Like it always was._

Spreading her wings vampirically, Priscilla kicked into the ground and soared into the air. She gracefully avoided the arrows and other projectiles thrown towards her, and set her sights on the many side offices of the colosseum. Most were simply empty office spaces with a nice view of the battlefield below, but a few of them were occupied by men in black clothes, and that was all she needed to see. She had noticed them earlier, and ever since had been quite curious about what they actually were. She buzzed towards the colosseum's side and extended her fingers into deathly long tentacles and crashed them into the glass windows, running her tools of destruction around the entire building and shattering everything she could reach. She froze when she noticed a lone warrior with long neat hair groomed back from her hairline standing near the path of destruction. The way she was staring at her was strange, and already looked quite a bit suspicious.

_Who is this? She's just watching from up here?_

_I wonder what she's up to?_

Much to Priscilla's annoyance, Skye suddenly dashed up the sides of the Colosseum's crumbling side with her powerful bow aimed directly at her.

_And this one simply won't leave me alone. I think i'll just maim her a little_

Within the next heartbeat, Priscilla moved to avoid the launched arrow by a hair's breath, then zoomed past a stricken Skye, momentarily knocking her back from the burst of speed, sending her crashing into the colosseum's flooring.

* * *

_She hit me._

_Nobody ever managed to hit me before._

_How could I let this happen? I'm the number one of Island four..._

_A disgrace..._

Skye managed to put herself together, getting to her feet and picking up her weapon. She could see blood pouring down her face and dripping into flooring beneath her feet, occasionally getting in her clothes and boots. The wound quickly healed, and so did the harsh lash the awaken's powerful claws tore upon her torso. She was a defensive type, but for somebody that had never been even cut before, this was a wound that felt a tad bit more than she was comfortable with. She had trained herself to be fast and agile, and combined with her style of fighting and technique, didn't think it was possible anyone could possibly hit her.

Throwing these thoughts aside, Skye sheathed her giant bow behind her back and sparred a few jabs against a nearby brick wall, shattering it convincingly with just three consecutive punches. Satisfied she was prepped for combat, Skye leapt up the side of the colosseum and entered the battlefield that was now the whole city itself.

* * *

For the next few minutes Priscilla had the most fun in her life. She destroyed almost everything she could see in this organization controlled section of the city. Siege weapons, barracks, training facilities, and especially the buildings that looked of importance. She knew what they looked like as the design and layout was basically the same as back on the island. Of course with every smashed building came an extra regulator on her tail, but losing them was simple enough with these incredible wings that made movement as easy as ever.

She arrived at the far southern end of the place and simply looked back at her trail of destruction with glee. There was just one last building to destroy, and Priscilla flew for it excitingly. But the closer she got, the stranger she felt inside, and upon closer inspection, came to realize it was in fact occupied. Hovering herself to the ground, Priscilla looked into the side of the barracks and noticed hundreds of trainees and clearly lower ranked warriors all hiding with terrified look to their faces. Most of them were quite young, and it broke Priscilla's heart to see the look of horror on their faces when they gazed at her. Miata and Clarice were among them as well, along with a few others she did not recognize but seemed to be already be aquatinted to those two. Priscilla sighed as she took one last glance at them, then kicked into the air and headed for the incoming army that was to massacre her.

Landing stubbornly before them, Priscilla was awestruck to notice that Miria, Irene and even Clare left the confines of the colosseum and were among the crowds of swords that gathered around her. Though they didn't seem to actually fight her, Rafaela, Roxanne and Ophelia seemed to have no problem with it. Curiously enough it seemed that Teresa still hadn't captured Marcus and seemed preoccupied somewhere else.

Priscilla eyed the many nervous faces around her then saying with a snakeish tongue, "You're all simply so much weaker than I am. Trying to kill me is pointless. So here's my proposal. Let me freely destroy whatever's left of this place and slaughter all the surviving staff for you. Surely that is something we can all agree on?"

Roxanne burst out in hysterical laughter, a venomous gaze upon her as she drew all attention her way, "Why are we even listening to a filthy awakened one? For all we know we could be getting tricked. I say we Kill it. Kill it Kill it!"

"Roxanne..." Priscilla grunted annoyingly.

At that time, Roxanne and Ophelia approached from opposite ends ready to strike her down. Already one step ahead of them, Priscilla knew they intended to remove her wings, and prepared to evade their obvious attacks, but at the last moment Skye charged forward and launched a burst of air that moved like a torrent towards her. The blow staggered at the worst possible time, messing up her plans to evade the successive attacks, and unfortunately falling victim to Roxanne successfully removing one of her wings.

"... I could just grow it back, but just for the fun of it, I want to see what you have planned next," Priscilla said.

It was then when a shadowy figure appeared before Priscilla at a speed that caught the awakened by surprise. An incognito Rafaela attempted to stab her through the neck with her Claymore but had her weapon caught with a firm grip instead by the faster awakened. The two stared deathly into the other's eyes. Neither blinked even once, and for a moment it seemed as if it were only them around in the general vicinity.

"Impressive Rafaela," Priscilla smirked whilst still having a commanding grip of her blade, "You're just as good as I remember. But I think in this case the student has far exceeded the Master. "

"Don't flatter yourself too much." Rafaela said.

"You know, the saddest thing of all is that I used to look up to you. But you betrayed me in the end. You knew all about the organization didn't you? the entire time you knew everything."

"It's not my responsibility to do anything. What I do is none of your business." Rafaela said with her solid gold gaze.

* * *

Teresa marveled at the many sights she passed by, Chasing Marcus through the city streets. This was the other half of the entire place, a section that seemed like home to civilians, or more accurately, A place for the rich that was probably funded by the organization itself. Structurally, the layout was similar to Rabona, but of an even wealthier class and with superior engineering. Giant fountains and artificial lakes spread across the sea of towering structures that no doubt housed people in their hundreds. Annoyingly enough, it appeared to be a rather busy market day, and evading the crowds themselves was just as much of a challenge as the chase itself. The last thing she wanted to do was smash into someone and draw too much unnecessary attention. By this point, Teresa had concluded that she could read his aura after all. It was faint, and different to what she was used to but in the end it was all the same thing after all. Almost catching up to him, Teresa swooped in to stun him but jumped in alarm as a rogue Claymore attempted to stop her. Before Teresa knew it, she was surrounded by a group of regulators that blocked her way.

"You are causing a disruption in this area. Remain still while we arrest you," One of the regulators said, pulling out a pair of dark metal cuffs.

"Arrest me? did you not see the man I was chasing?" Teresa said.

"We saw no one,"

" I don't necessarily enjoy doing other people's job for them. But you see, i'm in the middle of a citizens' arrest so you must excuse me." Teresa said, sizing up all of them before leaving to continue the chase.

-"Hey! Go after her!"

Knowing all to well the regulators would followed her tirelessly, Teresa tried to lose then as she continued to follow Marcus beyond the city walls and entered into the wildlife. At night the place seemed barren and dead, but now it seemed over-flooded with life. The plants and leaves colored by the most organic of green hues. Teresa could sense his presence was nearby, and was determined to capture him before he escaped.

* * *

Fighting without her wings was not particularly a bother. But the fact that her opponents surrounded her in what seemed like hundreds, was beginning to be. Compared to her opponents, Priscilla knew she could mop the floor with them in a bloodbath, but constantly being on the defensive was getting to be dangerous, as she didn't eyes on the back of her head. On top of that, somebody, or something was messing with her mind from afar. No doubt, she thought, it was that girl back at the colosseum that she spared that was adding to her misfortunes. Regardless, as of now, Rafaela proved to be the biggest threat, using the crowds to her advantage to slip in and disappear quickly, chipping away at her life with unexpected strikes. As though this wasn't enough, there was also the barrage of arrows from a Skye that was quite the bother. The girl was remarkably accurate with her weapon, always aiming for the middle section of the chest whilst making sure not to incur friendly fire upon her all allies.

"This is getting so annoying. Just give me some space will you!" Priscilla hissed, extending her fingers around her and flicking them around like whips around herself. About a dozen of the regulators received nasty cuts across themselves, but as she planned, none any were fatal wounds of any sort.

"I'm sorry but that is your own fault. If you want to play rough then i'll pay rough also." Priscilla said.

The entire front row of attackers collapsed under their wounds, but were quickly replaced by the next row. Regenerating her decapitated wing, Priscilla flexed them momentarily before launching herself into the sky once again. Much to her irritance, however, somebody managed to remove them both in one foul swoop, causing gravity to anchor her back to the ground like a fallen bird.

"Going somewhere? " Ophelia said proudly, revealing a blade smudged in purple blood.

* * *

_So you still haven't killed anyone yet..._

_Impressive, but not even you can survive in this place for much longer if you keep that up._

Watching on hopelessly at Priscilla's would-be massacre, Clare stood amongst her group in silence, her mind lost to deep thoughts. To her, It was unfortunate that Priscilla had decided to awaken so soon. She had thought that Priscilla was stronger than that, but it appeared she set her standards just a little too high. Regardless, it didn't necessarily bother her if Priscilla bit the dust either. It was her fault for awakening anyway, Clare thought.

At that time, Raki, Galatea, Dietrich and Anastasia approached the group all of a sudden. All of them had a horrified look to their faces, and it was clear that whatever message they brought forth was definitely not good. Clare wasn't sure exactly where they've been, or why Galatea was suddenly in this place but she was curious to find out.

"Clare we may have a problem again." Raki said.

"Problem? do you not see what's happening before us?" Clare said.

"Riful has amassed an army from under the colosseum. In no time this entire place will be overrun so we should get the hell out of here.

"I saw it also. They outnumber us at least a hundred to one. I'll evacuate the young ones and everyone else." Galatea said.

* * *

Though moving incredibly quickly, it was impossible for Priscilla to dodge everything in such a crowd, falling victim to a few slices from blades now and then. The constant regeneration was getting quite tiring, and already Priscilla's patience was fading fast. She attempted to go after her biggest threat, Skye, hoping to stun her out of combat but was immediately stopped by Rafaela, Roxanne and Ophelia who all seemed to use each other as form of cover.

Then she heard the a sound she never wanted to hear again. Rapidly closing in on her were a couple dozen of those things that attacked Isley back then. Abyssal feeders with an appetite for awakened ones. Priscilla wasn't sure where they came from, but no doubt they must have been a type of anti abyssal weapon this place used against somebody like her. As she suspected, their primitive minds seemed to ignore the regulators who simply moved away safely and allowed the unholy creatures to pass through. Like her, they're able to regenerate their bodies almost instantaneously, but unlike her, they can twist and bend their bodies in disproportional ways, even breaking their necks to avoid a beheading if need be. These things were the stuff of nightmares, literally having a hunger that could never be quite satisfied.

A handful dashed towards her like starved dogs, but a powerful Cleave by Priscilla's claws ripped them all to shreds the moment they approached her. The rest pounced at her all at once, and Priscilla, with all her power, tried to obliterate them in one go but was unsuccessful. A few of them slipped by her barrage and managed to take large bites across her body before she even took notice. Destroying these survivors was simple enough, but the damage they had caused was already done. Regenerating the wounds was already beginning to feel more and more like a chore, and this was beginning to be concerning.

_So this is it?_

_This is my limit?_

_All my potential as a warrior..._

_amounts to this?_

With her perfect body now approaching it's physical limit, Priscilla mentally scraped together as much yoki as she could to regenerate the vital parts of herself. It was almost painful now to do so, and the moment she felt just a little bit good about herself, a second wave of Abyssal feeders came thundering towards her. In response, Priscilla tried to regenerate her wings in one final desperate attempt, refusing to believe logic and simply hoping they would somehow grow just by her willpower alone. But sadly, this was not the case. It was a bit strange, she thought, that she had already been weakened to this extent. It was as if somebody or something was draining her power bit by bit, siphoning away at her life slowly from right under her nose. No doubt it was a type of yoki synchronization technique, and it must have been coming from nearby.

Among those in the crowds that stood out the most were Roxanne and Ophelia. The two seemed to enjoy the massacre just a little more than everyone else, and while they all wanted her dead, it was the strangeness of Roxanne that made her spine tingle just a little. It was almost as if the girl was lost to a trance, her mind preoccupied with something else. Combined with the sadistic look to her grin, by all accounts it became clear that it was her responsible for this mysterious drop of power, someone adding to her own power by taking away at hers.

The second wave of abyssal feeders swooped in against Priscilla, and though she managed to smash a few into oblivion, another took a crude bite into her right shoulder. Already running low on Yoki, the situation was beginning to get quite desperate, and even after disposing all of them, yet again another wave of abyssal feeders came along.

"For crying out loud just how many of these beasts do you have?" Priscilla groaned.

"As many as it takes you to die a slow and miserable death," Ophelia sneered.

cornered, and not particularly willing to find out just how many more waves of them there were, Priscilla made the decision to flee and attempt to exit the city. She passed through the many regulators fairly simply using her superior agility, knowing full well she would be followed mercilessly. Though a lot of her power had been drained, and now left wingless, her speed was still far superior to any surrounding claymore, and proved this by reaching the city gates in no time.

Touching down across the calming grassy plains just outside, Priscilla looked over curiously at the mountains just up ahead. The icy peaks reminded her of the chilly northern lands back on the island where she met Isley and Raki, memories which sadly she didn't appreciate at the time. In a way she missed Isley, but knew in the end that he probably didn't care at all for her. It was probably her strength that he was after all along, and that was the soul reason he dragged her around with him.

The peace and serenity was disrupted when the abyssal feeders had caught up with her, and Priscilla dashed into the first, heading for the mountains in an attempt to lose them. The regulators stopped their pursuit of her the moment they reached the city gates, allowing the abyssal feeders to finnish her off. Clare and her group stopped also, and for a moment, they weren't entirely sure just how to react to what just happened.

"Priscilla's finished. She won't survive the abyssal feeders. A pity." Irene said.

"Well, i've simply got to go after her... Screw the rules, i'm leaving the city. Good luck with everything... Oh and Clare, you can come with me if you want. I bet you want a piece of her too." Ophelia sneered.

"No thanks... But what exactly are you planning to do?" Clare said warily

"What kind of a question is that? I'm just going to go kill her nice and clean," Ophelia said in a tone that made her malicious intentions all too obvious, "Well I could bring you back a trophy if that tells you anything. You want her head or her heart?"

"You keep both." Clare said, her tone saddened.

"Whatever. Don't wait for me. I have a feeling i'll be taking a while..." Ophelia said, leaving in her pursuit.

_Well thanks for the information..._

_I will watch Roxanne closely like you said..._

_I wish you a death by the abyssal feeders before Ophelia gets to you._

Miria looked over at a stricken Clare who simply stared into the forest where Priscilla had left. She looked torn on the outside, looking unsure whether to feel satisfied over the fact that her mortal enemy was finally going to die. Never before had she ever seen Clare look so torn in her entire life.

"Clare, We should seriously fall back to Teresa and leave the city. As Raki and Galatea said this place is about to be swamped." Miria said.

"My sister is no doubt behind this also, so you should probably evacuate this place including these regulators." Rafaela said.

Irene hesitated for a moment before replying, "Of course."

* * *

Pacing through the forest, Teresa accelerated her pace in an attempt to lose her troublesome followers she picked up earlier. It seemed to have worked for a while, and soon she arrived at the top of the tallest hill in the general vicinity. Besides the giant mountains beyond them, this place probably had the best view of the entire city down below. From up here, the difference between the rich northern wing she just passed through, and the militaristic southern wing of the city was striking. The two were merely separated by a giant wall in the centre, and Teresa figured most of the people seemed completely oblivious to what was just on the other side.

"Nice view don't you think?" Marcus said.

"Are you talking about me or the city? " Teresa replied, noticing his solid gaze upon her again.

"Why do you ask questions that you already know the answer to?" He smiled back.

Irritated, Teresa was ready to draw her blade but at that time the group of regulators arrived much sooner than she anticipated. Much to her irritance Marcus had already slipped away and once again they called out only to her. Teresa didn't want to hurt these warriors, but now they simply left her little choice.

"For attempting to escape we should just kill you right now," One of the regulators said, drawing his blade furiously along with the others.

"Can't betray the trust of the humans. We're not supposed to leave the city but we simply had to catch you." Another said.

"Don't worry, I won't be killing you. But i can't guarantee this won't hurt." Teresa

Dashing behind the leader, Teresa pushed her hand across the back of his head and pummeled it to the ground so hard he fell unconscious. The others attempted to kill her on the spot, but Teresa simply grabbed one of their metallic spears and used it against the owner in a very creative way, then pummeled two others in the gut with a quick succession of blows to put them to sleep also. Watching all her teammates defeated in one go, the last, smallest one almost fell over herself taking careful steps backwards from fear.

"That was numbers five! and seven! I looked up to them and you just destroyed them both at once! Who are you!" the girl cried.

Teresa's instincts told her to not let this girl escape and to simply knock her unconscious like the rest. But the innocent look on her face simply reminded her of Clare too much and she couldn't dare lay a hand on her.

"Well, aren't you going to leave to warn the others?" Teresa said, sheathing her blade.

Throwing away her helmet, the regulator revealed herself to be merely a young child barely even thirteen of age. Most probably one of the younger ranks, only just given her badge as a protector of the city. Teresa noticed a sparkle of fear in the girl's eyes, looking as though she would burst into tears at any moment. But the girl was stronger than Teresa gave her credit for, and merely covered up all her fears and quickly disappeared into the forest without saying a word.

Sighing in delight, Teresa looked over to where she knew Marcus was resting atop a nearby tree branch. His annoying glance, like always was upon her. He dropped from the branch and walked towards her casually with a firm grin on his face.

"So what's your deal anyway? Why did you break into the organization?" Teresa said.

"No reason really. I Just passed by and thought it would be fun. The fact that I blended in was quite remarkable, but you knew the whole time didn't you Teresa?"

"You guess right. I suppose you're some sort of a traitor to the dragon-kin. The fact the others attacked you tells me this. Am I right on that too?"

"Close enough, but let me inform you a little more. I'm a little different to what the others back there are. I'm a human born with the soul of an ancient dragon. Originally, there were seven of us, but most died off a long time ago and I'm one of only two that remains. Each of us used to rein over different portions of the lands, commanding the dragon-kin tribes, but that was during the old times."

"Interesting. So you are strongest among the dragon-kin?" Teresa said.

" Probably. But the other guy hasn't spoken to anyone for centuries, including to myself. The last time we met up, the years of isolation drove him mad and actually tried to kill me. Didn't even recognize me. He was once my brother, poor bastard."

Teresa knew that time was of the essence, and knew that the girl she let escape would have probably made it back to the city by now. Knowing there was only minutes left before a backup team arrived, Teresa knew the decision whether to kill him or not was one that must be made now. Raising her blade and trotting towards him, Teresa teased him an alluring stare as she pointed the tip of her claymore deathly close to him,

"My my, So now it's time for me to decide whether you're worth more to me alive or dead. Persuade me."

Marcus grinned hautily-"If I wanted to harm you, I would have done it before. I was only playing around. And I think you're very sexy."

Pleasantly stricken at his words, Teresa threw him a grateful smile as she lowered her blade, allowing him just a little closer. That was something she wasn't used to being called by anyone of any worth, but she did find it quite flattering to hear it from him.

"Is that what you say to every woman you fancy?"

"Actually you're the first woman i've ever called that, and the first one ever to kick my ass."

Teresa smiled gently, feeling comfortable enough to sheath her blade. She had long since admitted to herself that she did find him quite attractive, in a very humanly, primitive way, with her eyes tending to to wonder to places she would rather them not.

"I can definitely kick your ass. But I suppose I should thank you for giving me a hand before..." Teresa teased.

Teresa merely stood her ground as he suddenly advanced closer to her, not even nudging an inch even as she felt his hands feel their way to her thighs. Before Teresa knew it, she succame to the inevitable kiss he gave her, but did not respond to this gesture. Even though she certainly didn't mind it, Teresa remained as still as a statue, cold and emotionless to his touch.

Pulling away, Marcus looked at Teresa curiously, "Is something wrong?"

-"Look, you don't want to know someone like me..." Teresa said sorrowfully, pulling away from him.

"I don't?" he said.

"No you don't," Teresa insisted strongly as she turned her back against him with a certain sadness to her movements, " Leave now and move as far away as you can, find yourself a nice human woman, treat her well, and live in peace."

A momentary silence set across them, and the look on Marcus' face made it clear he had been taken by surprise by what Teresa said. He never knew that a silver eyed witch was capable of acting so selfless. On top of that, she was a beautiful young woman, tainted only by her icy eyes and paled skin, which actually only added even more to herself.

Teresa froze when she felt an incoming projectile racing towards their direction, brushing past the bushes and slamming into the side of Marcus's shoulder. Blood oozed outwards from his wound, and before long, the hunting party had arrived. Irene, Roxanne, Hysteria, Miria, Skye and even Clare among others made their presence known by quickly surrounding the wounded man before her.

Then yet another made herself know, and Teresa immediately recognized Rafaela after all these years. Beside her was Raftella, the anti warrior she had met once before a very long time ago before she became number one.

"So you finally decide to show your face after all these years?" Teresa said.

"I've had other matters to attend to." Rafaela said.

"Like training up Priscilla to challenge me? The moment I fought her I knew it was you that had trained her. I have to say, I was actually quite surprised you sent her against me knowing full well she could never win."

Rafaela remained silent as she stared down this former youngling that had looked up to her once before. But now, she had grown into a full warrior, and one that no doubt had surpassed her in just about every field.

Next to her, Hysteria had a furious look to her as she stared at Teresa, pronging Miria to look over in a worry.

"You! The one with that irritating smile from back then! So you're Teresa!" Hysteria said, looking bewildered.

"That's right...Hysteria...I remember you." Teresa said.

-" it was because of you I died back then!"

"Yeah. You would have massacred everyone if it wasn't for me." Teresa said.

"Whatever!"

At that time, the group could barely believe it when off in the distance the great city was suddenly overrun by an army of strange creatures that seemed to flood out from the sides of the colosseum. They were all yoma, and thousands of them, spreading through the city like a cancer. Among them were larger awakened beings that destroyed whatever they could, ensuing complete chaos wherever they went.

Even from here, they could all hear the screams and panic that spread through the city, and upon the very centre was an awakened Riful, her ribbon like body so distinctive it was impossible to not recognize. Another huge awakened accompanied her, and very quickly it became clear that the city was no longer under their control anymore. For a moment Teresa thought about the girl that went back into the city, and said a silent prayer for her in her heart.

"I wasn't expecting there be that many...that's just ridiculous. Like a whole yoma army or something..." Helen said.

"Regulators don't leave the city, so it's likely that Riful will simply force them to awaken to join her army and use them against us." Irene said sadly.

"Yet you left the city quite comfortably yourself... " Skye peered over.

"They wouldn't have listened to my order anyway. Not during such a time when the staff were under direct threat. " Irene said.

"So much for having executive command over them. In the end you were just a puppet for the organization. But it pains me to know that so many of our comrades are down there. " Miria said.

Miria then looked over to Clare in alarm, "Wait. Where is Galatea? and the rest?"

"They are fine. They left the city roughly the same time as us and are on their way through the forest as we speak now." Clare said.

"Quite a sharp mind you have there. You've improved from before haven't you?" Teresa said, looking over proudly at Clare.

"Still not as good as you though."

Irene then approached the kneeling Marcus, changing the subject to another gloomy one, "Well now what about him? i'm glad he didn't end up escaping. Thanks to you Teresa. Now it's probably time to finnish him." Irene said.

A chilling silence set across the field, with wary faces all pointed towards the lone man in the centre.

"I'll do it." Skye said.

Teresa turned over to this young warrior questionably, "So willing? to murder a man in front of a crowd?"

Skye trembled for a split moment when she witnessed that frightening look Teresa threw at her. All of a sudden she began to regret ever having the ego to draw such attention on to herself.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Skye replied, " I heard that Marcus tried to kill you...and potentially being the strongest here, I'll be the one with the blood on my hands."

"You think...you are the strongest?" Teresa purred with a threatening trance.

Skye shot back with a smile: "Well i've never lost a battle before and we're both number one's s why should i just take your word for it that you're the strongest?"

"Never lost in battle before? Your face tells me otherwise. Besides, I really don't actually care about the ranks," Teresa sighed, addressing the collective of warriors around them: "But for the sake of proper leadership I feel like i'm obliged to object if it means all these warriors would be led by someone as childish as you."

"Well actually, Irene is number one here," Skye said.

Teresa lightly tapped a hand over her head with a mocking sarcasm: "Oh that's right. She's the number one. How could i have forgotten? But I do believe her city has just been overtaken so i'm not sure how much credibility she has anymore. No offense Irene."

"Maybe we should just spare him... we could still use him for information..." Anastasia said.

"Yeah i'm sure you could! And so could I in fact! he's pretty cute." Helen teased.

A few of the male combatants grunted in annoyance, clearly not comfortable with the idea of keeping him alive.

" Well ever heard of group justice? "If you vote to keep him alive then raise your swords." Miria said.

"Get lost," Roxanne interjected, throwing a surprisingly friendly-looking smile Teresa's way: "Among us, Teresa is the boss. What do you want to do? Teresa?"

Teresa noticed the beginings of a smirk growing across Roxanne's face, looking as if she enjoyed the situation just a little too much for comfort. Her intent was unknown to her, but Teresa had her suspicions and threw a challenging glare back,

"I agree with Miria in that we should have a group vote. I would say that is equal justice for a fool with no allies who just broke into his enemies' base alone with no escape plan."

"I agree. That sounds pretty just." Clare said from next to her.

"So then it's decided." Miria said.

"Are you kidding?" One of the male claymore combatants said in frustration as they stared at Marcus irritably, "Look at this bastard! he's smiling though his teeth! I say we kill him! just cut off his head and be done with it."

-"Just be safe and kill him." another yelled.

-"Kill him!" a couple others yelled.

Helen chucked a speeding apple into one of them that shattered on impact against his skull, "Hey! it's not like he killed anyone back there. Besides, he seems far more human than any of those guys before."

Marcus turned over to the eyes of judgement that surrounded him. Every one of them had a different look to them. A few with eyes of contempt, and others eyes for other things. Teresa, however, seemed as emotionless as ever, merely watching on silently from the sidelines.

Marcus addressed those around him, "Before I am judged, let me just tell you that i've been doing this for a very long time and never killed a woman, not once in my life. Also, i'm sorry it turned out like this, but it's quite rare when there are three really strong ones, so it kind of took me by surprise. I was originally planning to just mess around a bit and leave." Marcus said.

A moment later a few swords were raised in the air in accordance to the vote, and like a wave, more and more joined in. Teresa wasn't entirely sure whether to raise her weapon or not. On one side Marcus wasn't exactly a terrible person as Helen had mentioned, but on the other he seemed like a bit of a narcissistic fool and probably deserved what he was about to get.

Clare stared curiously upon Teresa's face that was hidden behind her faint smile. She didn't know what Teresa was thinking, but noticed the wavy haired warrior did eventually raise her weapon in the vote. Clare made sure to raise her weapon too, for Teresa's sake.

At the end the vote passed miserably against him, and a deathly silence set across the group. Marcus merely sighed as he lay on his knees, staring up into the sky a moment later with an infectious smile that didn't seem appropriate considering his situation.

Rafaela broke the silence, "Well then it's pretty much unanimous. I will be the one to execute him."

Beside her, Clare noticed a strange agitation coming from Teresa. There was something bothering her, and the look in her eyes made it terribly obvious to anyone who looked close enough.

Roxanne suddenly stepped forward stubbornly with a playful smile as she brushed by Teresa to stand before the kneeling man, "Well then I claim him!"

Bewildered, the group stared oddly at this powerful, yet strange warrior.

"You cannot claim him..." Irene sighed, implying face palm in frustration.

-"Are you kidding me? how can you not? he is cute, and you're all thinking the same thing." Roxanne said, smiling over at Teresa discretely.

"You're disgusting," Hysteria said: "It wouldn't be right to just claim someone. I don't believe in slavery and it would be truly unjust to leave him alone with you."

"Slavery? Well what the hell do you think we are? You just described our kind! We're just warriors trained to kill and only get stronger, a slave to our destiny." Roxanne said.

"I've Never been a slave before," Marcus said much to the surprise of everyone, "I guess i'll try that for a while. A lot of people make by by doing such things." Marcus said.

"You what?" Miria said with a awestruck look, "Are you sure you know what your doing?"

"Yeah why not?" Marcus said, " But are there no other takers? seriously that one with the pigtails scares me..."

The male warriors among the group simply rolled their eyes over in irritation, while the females simply chatted amongst each other. Quite a few seemed quite disapproving though, and simply walked away in frustration.

"I'll take that offer..." Helen said.

"Yeah whatever..." Deneve said.

"Please chose me," Anastasia said.

"Also I," Dietrich said.

-"What the hell , me too,"

Irene found herself quite surprised to actually see quite a few actually claim ownership of this man. It was a trend Roxanne had started,and though it was quite foolish for them to think in such a manner, then again, relationships with male Claymore's was always strongly discouraged, so she could understand the excitement. There was already a much larger proportion of female than male hybrids, and socialization among humans had remained pretty much illegal.

Though remaining as a quiet observer for quite some time, Skye suddenly stepped forward and made her presence know. She had her arms crossed furiously, but a little of her cheeks burnt from embarrassing thoughts she would rather not say out loud. She sighed gently before saying,

"Well whatever... If he causes trouble then he's gone. If this is his wish then it's not in my place to question anything...oh and I'll take his offer also..."

"Hey but I claimed him first! What the hell?" Roxanne said.

A shameless smirk came across Teresa's lips as she gazed upon this most interesting man. She surprised herself greatly at her initial willingness to take that offer, but chose in the end against it. In a way, she was thankful to Roxanne for stepping in to save his life, but also was quite wary about her true motives, as well as his.

* * *

Dashing through the forest like a desperate animal, Priscilla could hear the foul cries of the pack of abyssal feeders that followed her closely behind. The sounds they made haunted her so, and she could almost smell the stench of their breath, and feel their sharp claws ripping into her flesh. These creatures honestly frightened her, and it was them that were the true monsters and not herself.

Among the abyssal feeders that chased her, there was still one other person that had not given up. All the other regulators seemed to have given up a long time ago, but Ophelia had remained, and she was closing in on her trail fast.

The deeper Priscilla moved into the mountains, the rocker and more unstable the environment became, and eventually, her path was blocked by a giant cliffside with a sparkling waterfall. There was a single oak tree that rooted itself just a little too close to the stream, exposing its long roots to the chilling waters that went downstream.

_So this is my final stand..._

Turning around, Priscilla patiently awaited the arrival of the abyssal feeders, and made sure to especially keep an eye out for Ophelia. For a moment she was greeting with nothing but chilling silence, but eventually the feeders burst out from the bushes and attempted their devouring of her. She destroyed two of them at once by shattering their skulls, but another had almost destroyed most of her left arm. The corpses of half a dozen more were thrown about, and eventually Ophelia revealed herself. The maddened look across her face scary, licking her lips from sheer delight.

Only just managing to destroy the last abyssal feeder, Priscilla collapsed against the nearby oak tree. She had reached a point where she didn't posses the yoki to maintain her awakened form and reverted back to her more vulnerable human form. Completely naked, and left defeated, Priscilla tried to enjoyed the few second of peace and catch her breath.

"So how does it feel to be defenseless? is it humiliating? Do you feel weak and vulnerable?" Ophelia hissed.

Priscilla didn't say anything, but could only watch on in horror and and take the pain as Ophelia sunk her claymore cleanly through her body and getting in stuck into the tree behind. The pain twisted her insides, but she did not give Ophelia the satisfaction of letting her know.

-"Just why did my brother have to die from someone as pathetic as you! That is what kills me the most. But now that we're all alone I'll show you what it means to suffer. You bitch will know what true hell is after I'm done with you."

Stricken by a paralyzing fear, Priscilla started to weep in her desperation. She didn't want to lose herself to that emotion yet again, but found it impossible. Deep down, it was the fear of death that got to her the most, and unluckily for her, Ophelia was the one who could probably exploit this vulnerability to her.

coursing the ground with her hands, Priscilla sobbed quietly to herself,

"papa..."

Raising a brow, Ophelia hissed at her, "Huh? Who are you talking to? have you already lost your mind?"

-"I'm scared..." Priscilla sobbed louder, "I don't want to die...please someone help me! Someone anyone!"

"So you're a daddy's girl huh? That's so adorable...go ahead and scream but your fate is already sealed."

Closing her teary eyes, Priscilla embraced herself for whatever cruel death Ophelia had planned for her. All this didn't make any sense to her, and it wasn't fair either. She didn't mean for all this to happen. She didn't mean to kill Teresa, and certainly not Ophelia's brother either. Her soul had been stained possibly beyond repair, and perhaps death was something that fate simply had planned for her all along, whether she was ready for it or not.

-"Well well, just what do we have here?" A male voice said.

Opening her eyes in awe, Priscilla was excited to see none other than Isley standing before them, wearing one of his usual long rugged cloaks. In a way she was relieved to see him again, but still wasn't entire sure if he thought the same about her. But even if he came to kill her, she would much rather it be him than Ophelia.

"Who the hell are you?" Ophelia sneered over at the intruder.

Isley moved close towards them, his face half hidden within the shadows of his hood. Ophelia was quick to direct her blade at him, but he simply ignored this and focused his attention upon Priscilla instead.

"So did Riful destroy that place already? " Isley said.

"I'm not sure. Why don't you go back and check?" Ophelia said.

"Do you know if Galatea and Raki made it out? I assume they probably have. That boy has sharp instincts."

"What's up with that? why would you care about them? Galatea wouldn't know someone like you...Isley. Ophelia said.

-" So you do know who I am. But you still didn't answer my question," Isley said.

Irritated, Ophelia said, "Well if you must know, a group which included Galatea and that idiot already sought to leave the city before it was overrun. But now that I told you this you can just get lost."

"I feel a little better now,"

In the blink of an eye, Isley slashed across the front of Ophelia with his arm that morphed into a sword. Proving Just as deadly as the real thing, blood erupted from Ophelia as she fell to the ground with a shocked expression.

"But i'm not sorry about that. " Isley said before slicing at her again and knocking Ophelia unconscious as she fell to the ground limply.

Unable to believe what had just transpired, Priscilla merely huddled up submissively against the tree, scrambling to hide her naked self from Isley. Of course she was relieved that Ophelia was now stopped, but wasn't entirely sure if what was on Isley's mind was any better. Her body trembled with trauma, and she found it difficult to look at his face without losing herself to shame. Yet again she was left defenseless, and humiliated, and it was terribly unfair.

"Now now, such a pretty girl shouldn't be left bare naked like that," Isley said as he leant down over, removing his cloak and gently placing it soundly around her.

"Isley you...what are you doing here?" Priscilla said, blushing terribly at this kind gesture.

"Why didn't you just fly away? Silly girl. You almost got yourself killed. What were you thinking?"

Overwhelmed by emotion, Priscilla latched on tightly to a surprised Isley, burying her face into his chest and staining with her tears. At a time when she felt so vulnerable, she enjoyed the warmth and safety of being held so intimately at such a time when she needed someone more than ever. She had spent seven years with Isley before, but that was back when her mind was twisted and most of her memories had been locked away. Putting up with her back for all that time mustn't have been easy, Priscilla thought, and even if he just used her back then, she was still appreciative of everything he did for her.

* * *

With this chapter I mainly tried to stir things around and play around with the thought process of quite a few of the characters. I suppose this chapter mainly stars Priscilla, Clare and Teresa, but those three are the root of the story so I thought it was important focusing on them.

of course this story can once again go anywhere from here, or it could just end here as well i suppose. I myself hope the manga goes into the mainland itself in the not so distant future.

So tell me what you guys think, thank for reading.


	58. Chapter 58

Leaning comfortably against the side of a tree, Miria watched the dancing flames of the campfire she had recently started in the centre of their new camp located upon this hilltop. To her side, was the ever fading view of the organizations' lost city, almost lost to the late afternoon fog. Earlier, there was a short debate whether they should set up camp here or somewhere further away, and because darkness was setting in, it was eventually decided this position was good enough to spend the night in. It was strategically the best position for as far as the eye could see, and seemed to provide good cover from the trees also.

Before her, much of the dried wood from the fireplace had already turned into lifeless charcoal, and the fire crackled and popped the charred pit playfully. It was only a small fire, and there was no chance such a small light would be seen by yoma or awakened ones or any dragon beasts should they happen to pass by, Miria thought. Besides, in the next hour or so, most of the group would probably be resting here for the night, and the fire would act as a deterrent to keep any pesky wild animals at bay.

Earlier throughout the day, Hysteria and herself chased away the last of the dragon-kin invaders that had fled from the ruined city. Being the quickest of their kind, they moved between entire mountain ranges within ridiculously short time frames, leaving the vast majority of the others behind in the dust. But between them, Hysteria was by far the quicker, possessing such agility, Miria could barely even stay on her trail. At times, she even swore at times to see Teresa herself simply give up in the endeavour of showing who's boss. When it came to pure agility and speed, Hysteria proved to be the queen. Whether this was true or not, Miria was not sure of, but that infamous faint smile across Teresa's lips hid a thousand questions behind them after all.

Miria was keen to learn as much as she could about this most elegant warrior, and for hours, it was just the two of them hunting side by side deep in the forest, slaughtering whichever unfortunate draconic beasts they came across. The others hadn't gone as far into the mountains as them, but the thrill of the hunt and the constant need to outplay each other drew the two of them to continue for most of the day. At times, Miria would notice that Hysteria would intentionally slow herself down to allow her to catch up, and other times when Hysteria would even talk to her as if they were close friends, commenting on each of the passing scenery with an odd glee.

Though she loved to hear Hysteria's voice, sometimes, her gentle tones would change to annoyed moans whenever Teresa was mentioned between them. Hysteria had hinted that Teresa was responsible for her death, and didn't quite seem to get over it. But when she wasn't speaking about Teresa, Hysteria was zealous, constantly craving attention upon herself, and when she didn't receive any, she would make her displeasure quite clear. Miria couldn't help but be charmed by this seemingly innocent behavior, and almost forgot the reality that the two of them were technically enemies sworn to kill each other.

Getting back to reality, Miria drawing in a long breath of the icy air around her, rising to her feet, and looked down towards the descending forest before her. Somewhere down there, Teresa, Clare, and most of the single digits, were still busy hunting down every last one of the draconic beasts, even if it took them an hour to find just a single one. Most had long ago been killed off, and they getting more and more difficult to find. Perhaps they were all dead now.

Moving downhill, she walked through a maze of trees until discovering a serene cliffside with an almost perfect view of the vast mainland of in the distance. She sat across the cliff edge, marveling at the overreaching mountains that covered most of the view, and the packets of white snow that blanketed their sky-high peaks. A thick fog crept across the land, concentrating on the ridges and around the base of the mountains. The winds seemed to whisper something as it gusted by, and already Miria was having a very bad feeling about what was to come.

The sun was only just beginning to set behind the distant mountains, and Miria knew, that when that happens, even her sharp eyes would find it difficult to see through the blackness such a place. With the city now destroyed, The organization had received a heavy blow no doubt, but something was telling her the story was not entirely over just yet. Such an organization surely had plenty of funds, and would simply find a way to adapt and rebuild. The mainland was a large place after all, and perhaps she was drawing to conclusions simply too soon.

Miria heard the sound of a twig snap and turned over her shoulder to see Tabitha greet her with the friendly smile the girl would always give her. Out of all the ghosts from Pieta, it was always Tabitha that seemed to admire her the most, and most of the time, the conversations they would have felt the most natural out of any of the others. Miria appreciated the way Tabitha would always seem to spare a thought for her, even though she never expected, nor asked for anything in return.

"Miria, I Thought you had fallen asleep, you should rest." Tabitha said, sitting comfortably next to her.

Miria looked over, "I cannot sleep at such a time when we have so many enemies to worry about. My mind is simply preoccupied with other things..."

"i'm just concerned for you Captain. You haven't slept in days no doubt." Tabitha said with a worried look to her.

"It hasn't been that long...and please don't call me that anymore."

"It's probably been a week actually, Captain."

Miria sighed in compliance. She knew Tabitha was right. Tabitha was always right when it came to these things. While she was always concerned for the group as a whole, Tabitha was always the one to look after her, even when she didn't think she needed it.

"Hey what's that on you!" Tabitha said.

"Huh?"

Tabitha reached over for Miria and flicked off the creepy crawly that had dared crawl upon Miria's shoulder. She giggled at Miria's initial reaction, adoring the sheer innocence that was at the root of her almighty captain.

"Funny how these things seem to occur whenever you happen to arrive." Miria smiled.

"You spend all your time thinking about others, somebody needs to look after you. I know you haven't slept in days...so tell me what's troubling you." Tabitha said, her hand running along Miria's firm shoulder.

"Quite a few things actually...you know me. I'll ever change." Miria said in a miserable tone.

"But worrying about them won't make anything go away. You need to regain your strength if you hope to achieve anything later on."

"I will sleep very well after I take care of something first..." Miria said, dozing off to stare at a cloud that reminded her of a certain someone.

"Hysteria you mean?" Tabitha said, her voice turning into a soft moan of contempt.

"Yes. So now you must excuse me. I must be going." Miria said as she rose, preparing to leave.

"You care for her don't you?"

Suddenly stopping, Miria was surprised to see the topic bother Tabitha a great deal.

"What do you mean?"

"I think you know what i'm talking about." Tabitha said.

"We had an agreeance to a final duel to the death. When she comes back I'll have to fight her, and I don't plan to die. That's all."

"Such a person doesn't deserve your kindness Miria. You don't have to give her a fair fight." Tabitha said.

"Your probably right, I suppose I made a rash decision to save her earlier. But it's too late to change things now. I'll be back shortly." Miria said before slipping away to leave.

* * *

Further down the hillside, near a valley, the rest of the warriors had chased down the last of the dragon invaders by a frosty river, in an area that was thankfully free from the grasps of the forest. All the fleeing invaders within their general vicinity had been annihilated, and for now, it was only Hysteria who remained deep in the mountains to catch the last of the stragglers, while the rest gathered here in their main hunting squad.

Overwhelmed, the towering beasts whimpered at the sight of the many warriors that stared them down,

"Oh wow. What did these two eat to get so big? How did we miss them?" Roxanne said.

"They probably ate lots of careless warriors." Clare said, standing next to a faintly smiling Teresa.

"You know, I wonder which one of you guys can kill those two the fastest?" Helen said, peering over at her two powerful friends,

"which two?"

"Teresa or Clare."

"Teresa." Deneve said.

"Definitely Teresa." Galatea added.

"Nope, my money's on Clare." Helen said loudly, nudging her friendly uncomfortably against the shoulder.

Clare sighed, " It could do it in around fifteen seconds, give or take. What do you think Teresa?"

Teresa weighed in on her thoughts for a moment before saying, "You could do it in twelve."

"You think?" Clare said

Marcus merely sighed from behind all this as he watched on intriguely. "You guys really are quite interesting...you think this is a game or something?"

"trust me, you haven't seen the half of it." Raki said.

Seemingly ignoring them, Rafaela stepped forward and throwing Teresa a challenging stare,

-"I could also do it in twelve."

"What are you all talking about? I could do it in ten." Irene said.

"nine seconds." Roxanne said.

"Two seconds." a soft voice said.

Faces of awe shot towards the source of the voice, revealing herself to be Skye who pushed some mechanism on her bow and split it into four separate sections, each one with a separate string holding its own arrow. Hearing the girl exhale a gentle breath from her lungs, Skye released the first string of her bow, launching the first arrow through the air which impacted upon one of the dragon's shoulder, stunning it momentarily to allow the second arrow she released shortly later to pierce through its neck. The third and fourth arrows hit home on the other beast too, but it was left gravely wounded instead of dying instantaneously, groaning on the verge of death with a thick bolt through its neck.

"Doesn't count." Roxanne sneered.

* * *

With every enemy destroyed, the remaining Claymores spent the last of the afternoon resting within this field by the frosty river, enjoying the last of the dying sunlight. Some passed time by sparring amongst themselves, others, like Skye, seemed perfectly happy to just sit back and observe her comrades with a keen sharpness. Marcus had attracted quite a bit of unwanted attention also, and mostly spent the remainder of the day, willingly or not, charming the many girls that gathered by him as he told them fascinating tales about seemingly impossible stories. Too impossible for some to believe. Clare and Raki had disappeared into the forest themselves, whilst Roxanne seemed perfectly delighted in just teasing Galatea, much to the amusement everyone near them,

"Hey Galatea do you miss your toy boy?" Roxanne purred into the blondes ears, touching her uncomfortably against the shoulders as they sat around the fireplace.

Irritated, Galatea smacked her across the back of the head.

-"Arg! Hey"

"You already asked me that exactly seventy seven times already. You know what they say about insanity."

"You've actually been counting? Well At least I don't indulge with abyssal ones! you'll do anything to survive! what a whore!" Roxanne hissed.

"Like your to talk. Just what were you doing in Cassandra's cabin last night?" Galatea shot back.

"We were once good friends you know! The both of us couldn't sleep and..."

"I'm sure."

-"Enough...this is simply unacceptable now," Rafaela said, drawing out her blade and stepping before them, peering at only one person with a mean stare, "Cassandra is gone. That means your dead."

Rafaela's words met with gasps from those around her, drawing a small crowd to watch the upcoming fight between them two. Roxanne merely smiled back deviously, moving off Galatea then throwing back an innocent stare as she watched at the warriors around her to watch two of the big ones fight.

"Dead? me? Whatever do you mean?"

"You hit me with a dishonest strike and then threatened to kill my sister in front of me. Don't tell me you forgot?"

"Oh yeah...that. But it was in self defense!"

"Your words mean nothing to me." Rafaela said.

"Hey Rafaela what do you mean you have a sister? where is she?" Helen said, throwing a disapproving smile her way.

"Helen don't get involved in this. Trust me." Deneve said.

"Thank goodness we have rational thinking people here! I think Rafaela has lost her mind. Look at that scar across her face, maybe some of her brain was damaged as well." Roxanne said.

"i've never actually wanted to kill someone for pleasure," Rafaela said, approaching the smaller warrior confidently, intent on killing her.

"Oh well," Helen sighed, "It was good knowing you Roxanne. See you on the other side." Helen said.

Roxanne smiled back at her deviously, "Who says i'm the one to lose here? I think you forget who I am."

* * *

Watching this most fascinating battle between Rafaela and Roxanne for about an hour now, Teresa was beginning to feel just a little bit uneasy. Though Rafaela was the better fighter, Roxanne's superior intuition and wit made her survive quite well using a defensive fighting style. Most of the time they fought on the ground, But Roxanne appeared to amuse herself by forcing Rafaela to bring their combat over to the branches up above at times. The two of them made quite the mess of the place, disemboweling entire trees and potentially giving away their position, but the spectacle for everyone else made it all worth it.

Clare had gone off with Raki a while ago. The two spending some time together somewhere alone in the forest nearby. Teresa was happy for Clare. It was always her wish for Clare to live a human life, and this recent fooling around with Raki was about as close as it gets for that wish to come true.

Among this place, herself and Clare reigned supreme as the unofficial numbers one and two respectfully, but the numbers three and below were still being disputed among everyone else. Yoki wise, the ancient warrior, Rafaela may have been above abyssal level, possessing a centuries worth of combat experience that far surpassed everyone else, but Roxanne's power had grown from before, almost as if siphoning more strength into herself with each swing of her blade. The place for number three was not certain, she thought.

Also much to Teresa's great interest, Roxanne was even beginning to master the workings of the quicksword itself. Teresa couldn't help but tease Irene a little about that, in good nature of course, but she simply loved to rub things in as far as possible, and may have gone overboard at times. Marcus had stopped his irritating staring of her for the most, and instead was left preoccupied with entertaining the many women that surrounded him. For a while Teresa missed the attention from him, but knew it was the safest this way.

Suddenly, she could hear the sound of grass breaking and turned over to see Skye sitting on a leany rock, staring at her without even blinking, like an eager schoolchild to a teacher. She was without her bow, wearing a cloak she found from an abandoned town they had discovered earlier. Teresa had already discovered two well hidden knives amongst clever places within her clothes. One hidden in her right sleeve and another tucked in the side of her boot near her left ankle. Her black hair tingled with the winds' touch, sitting as tall as she possibly could, though possessing a slender frame. Skye's intriguing blue eyes shined distinctly though the darkness, accompanied by a warm, gentle presence about her that was almost naive in nature.

"You seem well prepared." Teresa said.

"Oh you noticed them? well don't get the wrong impression, it's just for my own protection." Skye said, scrambling to better hide them from view.

"You know, I could spring for you before you even have time to draw one of those blades," Teresa said, her tone playful yet quite serious,

"Seriously you want to make a bet? i'm pretty quick myself, -" Skye said, moving her hand cautiously towards another blade hidden around her right thigh.

"I do,"

Skye raced for her weapon, but had the wind knocked out from her when Teresa moved faster than the wind, grabbing her hand before it reached the hilt of her weapon. Irritated by the mocking faint smile she received, Skye, with her other hand, reached for another one of her rogue knives and and then skillfully sliced in an uppercut. Teresa managed to evade it, but strands of blonde hair blew off into the wind, and for a full few seconds, the two warriors watched each other with an intense stare.

"Your position of number one amongst us is absolute, that's for sure...i'm glad to have you as a friend." skye said peacefully, casually tucking away her short daggers.

"We are not exactly friends, only allies for now," Teresa said, annoyed by the fact that Skye had managed to cut her across the side of her neck, and doing her best to hide it in the shadows of her hair.

"Trust is something that must be earned, just like everything else, so I understand your defensive nature. But power appreciates power, so its only natural our paths would cross." Skye said, sitting comfortably against a swollen tree stump, fascinated by an enormous butterfly that had just landed against a nearby overgrown branch. Teresa watched as Skye reached for the butterfly, then gently moved it under her finger and inspected it closely like a fascinated child. Her face, though tender and pale, had a sharpness to it reserved for someone much older.

"See this? Compared to us, It is such a weak being that has almost no power of its own. Most wouldn't kill a butterfly for no reason, but If I wanted to, I could tear off its wings and then kill every other butterfly I see afterwards. But I won't, because I believe that we should show kindness to those below us. Because a butterfly is so incredibly complex and beautiful, It seems a crime to destroy this small shred of innocent life."

"You don't need to lecture me about empathy. Insects are insects and people are people." Teresa said with dying smile, her voice cold.

"True. But both don't have a choice in what they are." Skye said.

"What's your point?" Teresa sighed.

"There is a chain of power in this corrupt world, and we should remove those at the very top and run things ourselves. The ones at the top have no empathy, so we should take them out."

Teresa almost broke into laughter when she head that. Once again she was confronted with a naive idealistic mind that thought in shades of black and white, someone who was yet to realize the truth of this world ruled by greed and power and that was probably never going to change.

"The world is not as simple as you may believe. You're in way over your head." Teresa said, laying back down against the slanted hill to rest.

"Why do you doubt that it can be done? The organization is gone for now, and once we take care of the dragon-kin, there will be nobody else to stop us. No human army could defeat us all, especially you-" Skye said.

"The pursuit of power is a corrupt one in itself, and fighting armies is different to fighting an idealism. We can never win until you change the very nature of people. And in case you forgot, people don't exactly like our kind."

Skye remained silent for a second, looking as though she was unsure how to respond. She was visibly stricken, and had already acknowledged this was probably the end of their conversation,

"I will think about what you said. But I still believe that kindness is at the very nature of everyone's soul. Humans have the capacity to accept us. See you around, Teresa. " Skye said, her gaze strong, her lips tightened before moving off to leave into the shadows.

As Skye left, Teresa collapsed comfortably against the grassy hillside, thinking about Skye's words. Clare was still off with Raki, and for now, she simply enjoyed being left alone to her thoughts. She closed her eyes to rest.

_Out of all the people around me, there are only a handful that I feel I can trust._

_I need to stay close to these people._

_So then..._

_Where's Miria?_

Teresa sat up at that moment and tried to identify the warrior's yoki aura nearby but was unsuccessful. Wherever Miria was, she must have left this hill and moved somewhere far off, perhaps in pursuit of Hysteria who was still in the forest, she thought. Teresa knew that there was something going on between them, and already suspected what Miria had planned to do.

A few minutes went by, and the constant noise from Rafaela and Roxanne's battle was beginning to get on Teresa's nerves. It was clear it wasn't going to end any time soon, and her meeting with Skye had only pumped her adrenalin from before. Standing up, Teresa moved off towards the two and stood in silence as she stopped before them with her hands crossed to her sides, showing her displeasure.

"Really, you people should take this somewhere else. You keep doing the same thing over and over again and it's driving me insane. " Teresa said crudely.

The two stopped their fighting, and immediately Rafaela turned over, her form slowed due to a growing exhaustion.

"This is getting boring anyway,"

"That's right. Run away. Run to your awakened sister." Roxanne hissed.

"Awakened sister?" Teresa said, taken aback by what she heard. Never did she suspect Rafaela had a sister.

Rafaela didn't respond to anyone. Instead, she threw a mean look Roxanne's way, but chose the peaceful option of just putting her weapon away, throwing Teresa a saddened stare.

* * *

Moving through the depths of the forest as fast as a soaring bird, Miria could sense a lone Hysteria's presence just up ahead. Accelerating her pace, Miria eventually reached a breaking in the forest and marveled to see Hysteria at a stand down against a particularly aged draconic beast who's roar echoed through the forest like a howling banshee. The former number one stood strong, with not a single scar of battle across her even after all this time. Miria wasn't quite sure what Hysteria was doing so far away from everyone else, but was simply thankful she found her alone. It would make her job just that much easier.

Hysteria noticed her quickly, and Miria could see a pleased smirk dwell upon the braided warrior. Moving as though slicing through the wind, Hysteria easily disposed of the beast within seconds with her successive elegant strikes before her. Miria simply marveled at how Hysteria destroyed the creature with such ease, possessing a technique so superior to her own, it was almost maddening. Hysteria was no doubt trying to impress her, and so far it was working. Miria found it quite cute the way Hysteria would often glance over to make sure she was still looking. The constant need for attention only seemed to be directed at her, and for a moment, Miria thought she may be able to use this to her advantage.

Miria felt compelled to send a cheeky wink Hysteria's way, and was satisfied to see her target blush during mid battle. To Miria's horror, this distraction ended with the dying dragon's tail suddenly lashing across an unaware Hysteria, slamming into her back and tossing her to the ground with crushing force. Panicked, Miria raced for her aid, but the moment she arrived, Hysteria was already at her feet.

"You like to show off, but then something like this happens." Miria said.

"What are you saying? It's nothing..." Hysteria said, flicking her face off to the side to make her irritance, and embarrassment clear.

Though Hysteria tried her best to hide it, Miria could tell that she was in pain after all. Pierced into her back were fragments of razor sharp spikes from the dragons spiky tail from before, digging into her flesh deeper with every slight jerk of her body.

"Nothing? I think you could use a little help'" Miria smiled warmly as she approached the shy warrior who now sat across a flattened boulder.

"I don't need your help or anyone else's. I already owe you from before, and honestly it makes me sick."

"is that so? Well sometimes even the strongest needs a little assistance,"

"not I. Go away Miria...leave me alone..." Hysteria said, struggling to pull a rather nasty claw from her back, though failing miserably.

"Just relax," Miria said.

"Hey I don't nee-"

Miria stubbornly moved behind Hysteria, sitting beside her to inspect the damage upon her back. Surprisingly, Hysteria did not put up much resistance to this closeness, and when Miria placed a hand against her, she responded with only a faint whimper instead. Being this close to her, Miria couldn't help but marvel at Hysteria's incredible form, one that oozed of pure femininity and grace. Miria inspected the damage across hysteria's back and sighed,

"You have a couple claws that are tearing into you. It must be quite painful." Miria said.

"I'll let you pull them out, but you must promise to keep your hands to yourself otherwise ." Hysteria said.

Miria paused for a moment, her face as still and as emotionless as a statue, "I promise."

Hysteria merely lowered her head in defeat, "Even though you claim to be the one to kill me, out of the others, I trust you the most...how sad is that?" Hysteria said.

Miria remained silent as she gently placed her hand across Hysteria's delicate shoulder, pronging an odd response from the warrior who responded with only a slight agitation. She moved her hand across the lining of her back, having a feel for the razor sharp objects implanted into her flesh. Hysteria felt a little embarrassed under Miria's touch, the tingling sensation almost making her forget about the painful barbs inflicted across her for only a moment.

With one quick thrust, Miria removed the first of the barbs from her flesh,

"It's so stimulating this feeling..." Hysteria moaned with a strange satisfaction, "You never know you're more alive when you feel such pain ... How many more are there?"

"Three more. Stay still."

Miria grabbed another barb and Yanked it out, causing another light moan from Hysteria. The wound left behind was deep, but not life threatening to their kind. There was no obvious internal damage and luckily most of the barbs appeared to have missed vital organs as well.

"Let me ask you something Hysteria," Miria said.

"You're not usually one to ask many questions...but I do welcome it."

Yanking yet another one out, Miria added, "You let your guard down didn't you? Don't tell me you were trying to impress me or something?"

Hysteria groaned impatiently, "Of course not! What are you thinking? Ugh Don't be ridiculous Miria!"

"So you just happened to get hit? Unlikely. Someone with your abilities normally wouldn't have a problem under such conditions."

-"Are you suggesting I intentionally got myself hit?" Hysteria said.

"That's what it looks like." Miria said.

-"Well you seem awfully quick to hurry over the moment I get injured."

" I'm merely making sure your not thinking of escaping. Besides, i'm not exactly helping you."

" You are so inferior to me it's laughable. As if I need to run away from you. And hey Miria what do you mean by not helping m-""

At that moment Hysteria roared in pain as the final spike wasn't pushed out, but pushed through her body instead by Miria's powerful grip, reducing her to her knees in an instant. Blood erupted from her mouth, the vision sending horrific shockwaves throughout the back of her mind. She froze, and for a moment she did not understand what was going on, until the moment her captor revealed herself before her with a claymore in hand. Miria's face was stone cold, her sharp gaze a complete contrast from before. Every look to her made her intentions clear to anyone, death was seen in her eyes.

Left wounded and coughing out her own blood, Hysteria was absolutely terrified. She peered in anguish into Miria's eyes and quickly struggled to her feet, madly attempting to remove the spike Miria had pushed deeper, but it was futile. The object was deeply rooted in her wound from the back, making it incredibly difficult to remove herself. A little of her spine had been damaged also, crippling her body even further than the wound itself.

Miria merely watched on at Hysteria's failing attempts to free herself , and after coming to realization she was making a fool of herself, Hysteria calmed down and stood with in a composed stance, or rather, the best that she could hope to conjure up under such wounds.

Though she put on a face of iron, Miria, felt heart wrenched to see the rather innocent response from her victim, a sharp contrast to the monstrous tales she was told. Though clearly petrified, Hysteria managed to stand strong and calm, even in such conditions. Even though Justice told Miria this was the right thing to do, her heart carried a heavy burden of regret at what she's done. Regardless, her morals were set in stone, and she merely brushed all emotion aside to continue on with her original intentions.

But when Miria noticed the beginnings of tears run down the braided warrior's face, All of a sudden she wasn't so sure where her priorities were, and all she could think about was the unfathomable guilt that had unexpectedly toppled her defences like nothing before.

"Miria...how could you...I thought...that..." Hysteria babbled, lost to shock.

"I'm sorry, but this had to be done. I'm not naive enough to actually believe I can defeat you one on one in a fair match, so this is the only way justice can be served."

"Justice huh? what a silly word that is..." Hysteria said, looking away to avoid eye contact.

"I've seen your technique and already know the gist of it anyway, so there's no reason for you to be alive. So before you meet your end, tell me Hysteria...why did you do it?" Miria said tightening the grip of her blade in anger.

Hysteria didn't respond, instead, she continued to stubbornly avoid eye contact. The few tears that had flown before had stopped, but their silver trails still sparkled brightly in Miria's eyes. Not keen on letting this difficult situation drag on for longer than it must, Miria raised her blade, frustrated by the silence she received,

"Fine. Your secrets die with you."

"...Why did I do what?," Hysteria suddenly said, "You'll have to be a little more specific if you expect an answer."

Miria lowered her blade slightly, and felt a little strange now that Hysteria peered directly at her. It was a look of contempt, but mostly one of betrayal, a particularly damaging combination.

"Rockwell hill,' Miria said "Was it not better to die as a human? Why did you massacre your comrades?...Do you really have no regard for life?"

Hysteria threw her a grunted look. She had been asked this once before, and such topics weren't something she particularly liked talking about.

"They weren't my comrades. It's as simple as that."

Frustrated again, Miria added : "You knew they couldn't refuse an order! besides, you were about to awaken anyway so their actions were justified. Yours was not."

"Orders are simply just that. Orders, "Hysteria said, "There's always a choice whether to obey them or not and unfortunately for my former 'comrades', they made the wrong choice."

Miria signed at this: "...I cannot possibly imagine killing fellow comrades...Such a thing is not really in my nature. But because of your ego, not only did you die, but so did many others...causing so much unnecessary bloodshed."

"But it's my life!" Hysteria snapped fumingly, " How dare they even try to take that away from me! Who says that you can't stop the awakening process anyway? You wouldn't know until you tried! so excuse me If I don't want to die!"" Hysteria snapped, her temper rising slightly.

Stricken at this, Miria was eager to listen on further.

"And Why should I even surrender my life anyway? That's the soul thing that we own for sure! I don't want to die, I want to live. Why is that such a crime?"

"That's no excuse for what you did."

Hysteria gave her a crude, weakened smile, " Back then, I was the centre of attention, and everyone wanted to be just like me, wanted to get to know me...I was so happy. I made friends that I proudly considered comrades, and even though I mostly kept to myself, I honestly thought of them as a form of family I suppose. "

Miria continued to listen on with an intense curiosity,

"Then one day, I discovered that the yoma side within me was beginning to take over, but I did not report this to anyone. I suppose I thought that I could hold it back, but in the end, the organization had discovered my losing battle and sent many warriors out to kill me. My very comrades, the ones I called friends, turned their blades against me without a second thought! The ones who used to look up to me and respect me, were now the ones who attacked me like a common yoma! what do you have to say to that?"

Miria wasn't sure how to respond from that emotional response from Hysteria, and was lost to the many remorseful thoughts that flashed by in her mind.

"My entire life...everyone i've ever known, has betrayed me. So I really should have seen you doing something like this too." Hysteria said, Lowering her head before an awestruck Miria.

A moment of silence passed as Hysteria added, "Do you think...that if things were different, we could have been friends?"

"Don't say things like that during such a time..." Miria said, preparing herself for Hysteria's decapitation. Her heart sank when she noticed the warrior trembling from fear, but still doing the best she could to remain as composed as possible.

Then Miria saw something that made her heart skip for a second time.

Leaning before her, Hysteria looked up with eyes moist with forming tears. It was obvious the girl was petrified, and once again Miria wasn't sure what exactly she was doing, or if it was right at all. Hysteria may have been one of the stronger number one's in history, but in the end, a number was just a number, and deep down, she was just another pained soul much like her own.

"Please Miria...I don't want to die... why can't you just leave me alone!" Hysteria said so weakly it sounded more like desperate begging,

Miria faulted at the sound of those simple words that made her spine tingle. Without making a word, Miria, sheathed her blade and watched as the shocked warrior peered at her with an entrancing look of relief.

"I can't stand to see anyone like this..." Miria sighed in defeat, her heart racing.

The moment she lowered her guard, the wind was blown from her as Hysteria suddenly appeared before her, their eyes only an inch apart. Hysteria stared at her fumingly, her face remarkably composed, a far cry from her previous performance.

"What the hell Miria don't ever do that again! it's not funny!" Hysteria said angrily, not a tear in sight, "Now please remove this retched object from my torso and we can maybe call it even..."

"Yes...of course..." Miria said, left completely dumbstruck.

_Wait...what just happened? _

"And you must apologize to me. You must do it now." Hysteria huffed.

_Why is she in control now?_

"I will not." Miria said coldly, moving behind her.

"That's so rude!-Arg!" Hysteria groaned as Miria pulled out the spike from her back and threw the bloodenned object to the side.

" I only spared you because I feel sorry for you. I owe you no apology. In fact, you owe me."

Freed from the anchoring claw, Hysteria arched her back as far as it would go, closing her eyes for a few seconds and letting out a long slow breath. Miria wasn't sure what she was thinking, but was thankful she didn't do something she would have regretted.

"I am ever so gracious to stand in my captors' merciful presence. I seek penance to pay for my sins." Hysteria said in a playful, sarcastic manner that brought life to Miria in ways that surprised her.

"You're funny. But I don't think we can be friends."

"Well that's too bad," Hysteria said, playing with her long hair, "You would have liked me."

"What do you mean?-" Miria said.

"Oh please don't act like little miss innocent now. I can see the way you look at me. You're fooling nobody."

Her cheeks tingling, Miria responded, "I don't know what your talking about."

"Ugh. Boring. You are so rude and so boring. Please don't speak to me again unless you apologize." Hysteria said, suddenly turning over to leave, "Bye Bye Miria,"

"Hey Where are you going?" Miria said.

-"None of your business."

"Wait Hysteria..."

Stopping in her tracks, the braided warrior looked back curiously, "What do you want?"

"Despite what I said earlier, I still admire your form and technique. It's only the choices you've made that I despise."

Hysteria smirked delightfully, "People like you always want what they cannot have..."

Watching on hopelessly as Hysteria disappeared behind the woods, Miria struggled to contain the thousands of thoughts that raced throughout her mind. She wasn't sure what just happened, but in a way, she felt relieved the both of them had managed to keep their lives in the end after all. By now, there was little doubt she had grown attracted to Hysteria, but Miria had always tried to suppress these feelings thinking they would only get in the way. She hadn't actually thought much about relationships between her kind, and was always far too busy with the daily struggles of life to even bother. Apart from being attracted to her, there was also a lot of things she could learn from this elegent warrior, so it was only natural the two would be drawn to one another. Miria wasn't quite sure how to play this particular game they had just started, but was determined to win and topple that pile of beautiful arrogance of hers.

* * *

As much as Roxanne adored Teresa, at the moment, she couldn't quite stand her. No matter how much speed or power she used, it was impossible to pass the iron clad defenses of the wavy haired warrior, who simply fought with that shadow of a faint smile. And even though Roxanne knew she had grown considerably in strength recently, Teresa was still someone whom she had yet to even properly scope.

The two of them sparred in a secluded area of the forest, a little distance away from the others back at the camp. Their fight unfortunately scarring rows of ancient trees and disturbing the peaceful silence of the night.

Roxanne was an excellent fighter, and a very strong warrior, but in the end, Teresa thought, it was only Priscilla who ever had the chance to keep up with her.

All of a sudden, Roxanne stopped her offensive and threw Teresa a curious grin.

"You can predict my movements with that glorious technique of yours isn't that right Teresa? That's why I can never hit you, even if I could keep up with you in the first place."

"I wonder if you figured that out yourself or if someone simply told you." Teresa said.

With a finger against her chin, Roxanne seemed to ponder something to herself with a seductive innocence, "I...think it was Irene who told me that...Back at the colosseum...Forgive me as I don't really remember because I was watching you the entire time..."

"About that. Is there something you want to tell me now rather than later?"

Faltering for only a split second, Roxanne cursed herself silently before scrambling to say something, "Well, not really... but I did learn the quick sword and even tried that thing Miria calls the phantom..."

Teresa sheathed her blade and threw Roxanne a meaner stare, "Is there anything else?"

"Oh my...you know don't you?" Roxanne said, looking completely awestruck she had been found out.

"How did you learn that technique? Sensory control?" Teresa said.

-"Jealous?"

Stricken, Teresa remarked, "No."

"Do you want me to teach you?"

"..."

"Relax! i'm only teasing you! you're real cute when your upset! Roxanne chuckled.

Teresa looked at her oddly, "Are you always this friendly with everyone you meet? or just the stronger ones you hope to surpass?" Teresa said with a faint smile.

Feeling her eye twitch involuntarily, Roxanne was mesmerized by the look on Teresa's face before replying, "I'm only friendly to those that deserve it."

* * *

When the last of the day's light threatened to die out, everyone returned to the crest of the hill where Miria had earlier prepared for them all to rest for the night. Clare and Raki had returned from the forest, and for a split second, the two of them were seen holding hands, looking like a young couple at their first date. The two quietly whispered something to each other before breaking away, with Clare moving back towards towards a welcoming Teresa.

For a while, Raki would occasionally watch Clare and Teresa closely as the two chatted amongst themselves, the two looking like young schoolgirls at a play date. They had the most ridiculous chemistry, and the way they looked at each other made it very clear that they were meant to be together, in one way or another. For Raki, it was warming to see the smiles on both of their faces. For a few minutes they chatted but after a while, the two of them got up and left the camp as they entered the forest themselves, no doubt to enjoy the sunset together in a more private place, Raki thought.

Over to his side was Helen and the rest of her group engaged in light conversation. The topic was as usual, about Marcus and how great he apparently was. Raki sighed at all this bickering, rolling his eyes over to something more interesting. He noticed Skye glance at him, then quickly looked away shyly when he looked. Not thinking much of it, he ignored this for a while, but it was getting blatantly obvious she wanted something.

"Something you need?"

Skye moved to sit next to him, and gave him an odd look,"...I'm not sure how to do this."

"Do what?" Raki said.

"You know what they call it? Flirting. I've never done it before. I'm curious about it."

"Is that what your so nervous about? Look at you, a Claymore with the strength of at least a hundred men, and you're afraid to talk to guys?"

"I am not afraid." Skye said.

"Then why are you so nervous?"

"I am not nervous."

"What do you want from me Skye? I just came back from what humans would call a date..." Raki sighed as he sit back against the grass and looking up into the clouds above.

Skye looked at him oddly, "Are you calling me inhuman?"

"What? no, of course not i was just merely-"

Before long a tender smile came across her, showing her playful nature, "Relax i'm only joking. But still, Teach me how to flirt, that is not a joke. " she said.

"I thought you guys were meant to be trained in all sorts of human behavior..." Raki said.

"I had no such training, "Skye objected with a pronounced smirk, "I've mastered all forms of combat and survival strategies on the battlefield, as well as the many weaknesses and vulnerabilities in a human and yoma body..."

"Well that's very interesting and all but -" Raki said, slowly trying to pull away,

To his surprise, Skye snuggled up against him in an overly-friendly manner and then whispered, "You may have noticed I have a few sharp objects on me, but I urge you to ignore them as they are only used for yoma and the like, I promise."

"Err, that's not flirting..."

"Oh well then how do you flirt?"

"Well, firstly...don't talk about knives or any sharp objects..." Raki said.

"Noted."

"How old are you anyway?" Raki said.

"Fifteen."

"My advice, don't rush into it. Concentrate on yoma for now."

"I already know what I want." Skye said boldly as she stared at him curiously. "We can be friends you and I. I've never had a boy as a friend."

"Why don't you ask Marcus?" Raki said as he looked over annoyingly to the man surrounded by many women, "He obviously has lots of experience in the subject."

"Too many others around. And you seem to know what your doing as well. I can see that Clare really likes you." Skye said.

"Yeah...but it's tough to compete with somebody like Teresa."

Helen chuckled hysterically nearby, pronging both Raki and Skye to throw her an uncomfortable stare, "You do realize we can hear everything you guys are saying?right?" She laughed.

"You can hear us? Oh how embarrassing..." Skye said, her cheeks burning.

Now Deneve joined in, looking crudely over at Skye, "You do realize that's Clare's man?"

"Clare and Teresa seem awfully close...maybe it's not Raki she's interested in after all!" Helen smirked.

"I'm not sure about that..." Deneve said.

"Have you seen Teresa? she's practically a living goddess..." Helen said.

-"You guys are talking about Teresa?" Roxanne said, joining in the conversation.

Helen added zealously, "Yeah. Clare has surprised us many times before. Perhaps she swings both ways?"

"Helen i'm starting to question a lot of things about you," Deneve said with her arms crossed,

"I'm like an open book. transparent and I say what's on my mind, that's all I'm saying. "Helen said, then noticing somebody approaching the camp. It was Miria, who sat comfortably around the fireplace near them, seemingly lost to her own thoughts with something clearly bothering her.

"So where were you Miria? And where's Hysteria? were you guys on a date or something?" Helen teased.

"Date? -" Miria said, confused.

"Hysteria isn't with you, so it could be possible that you killed her out there where no one could hear her scream. That's real cold." Roxanne said with a sharp glare.

"I don't want to talk about it," Miria said.

"That stubborn bitch had it coming anyway. "

"Do not call her that." Miria said.

Tabitha gave Miria a worried look, a look of unsettlement to her.

"You are all so immature..." Irene sighed close by.

* * *

Sitting alongside a grassy hillside not far from their camp, Teresa and Clare watched the blazing sun disappearing behind the great mountains off in the distance as they enjoyed the peaceful company of the other. The two of them had spent time together throughout most of the day, talking to each other like the closest of friends about the most random things they could think up. The others must have thought they were quite strange, as there was never one moment where the two would remained silent, constantly finding something to talk about now that things have calmed down.

Lying amongst the lush grass, Clare playfully nudged Teresa across the shoulder who lay comfortably next to her, pronging Teresa to return the favor. The both of them played around for a while, until it just so happened that the two of them would find themselves in an uncomfortable position usually not reserved for friends. Clare leered deeply into Teresa's mesmerizing eyes as she lay atop of her, unsure whether to remain where she was or move off from her. Teresa, the person she admired most, remained perfectly still, looking neither particularly resistant nor embarrassed by their closeness. The world quickly fell to silence, and both stared blankly at the other, seemingly unsure what to think of this prolonged awkwardness between them.

"...Clare...is this what you want?" Teresa whispered, seemingly unsure of this herself.

Clare remained frozen lipped, seemingly lost to thought for what seemed like ages. Indeed she wasn't quite sure just what she was doing, or why she didn't immediately move off Teresa and avoid this awkward situation. Teresa was somebody that she admired more than the world itself, but whether she was to be anything more was something she never actually thought about.

As Clare thought on this, however, she suddenly began to see Teresa in a new light. Teresa was beautiful. Her youthful features and striking curves was something to die for, possessing a unique smile that hid a thousand questions behind them. Her hair was the brightest of blondes, with long, boutique curls like that of the ocean, and a pair of pretty eyes that glistened of a familiar past that connected them forever. Clare admired simply everything about her. From her soft face to her gentle hands, to the way she would secretly hide her true feelings behind that faint smile. Teresa was the greatest person she ever knew.

"I'm not sure...just what I want..."Clare said, raising herself slowly off Teresa, her mind catching up to her.

Teresa merely lay flat against the ground, looking upwards at this important person above her. Clare was a very pretty young woman, she thought, around the same age as herself, but possessing a smaller, slender frame that she found quite adorable in a sense. She had the cutest, gleeful smile Teresa had ever seen, and an infectious innocence that was indisputable. Even to this day, Teresa could still see the faintest signs of green behind that harsh silver that after all this time should have been long drowned out in her mind.

"Well then...I suppose there's just one way to find out?" Teresa said with a fascinated look to her.

Using her elbows to raise herself, Teresa pushed her face up closer towards a partially reluctant Clare. At first the two exchanged a prolonged awkward stare, Then, without any notice, Teresa reached in and planted a soft kiss on Clare's petrified lips. Though it was only for a split second, Clare's face lit up with a pleasant surprise, her mind left utterly dumbfounded at what just happened.

The two merely stared oddly at each other afterwards yet again as their lips parted, unsure how to react to what just happened. Both seemed unsure whether the kiss was something they enjoyed or if it just seemed to be plain wrong. The two contemplated on this for an uncomfortably long moment, unable to be the first to say anything at all.

Before long, a light chuckle set upon Teresa, followed shortly by Clare, and eventually, the two burst into an infectious laugher, relishing at the sudden humor they found in the situation.

Teresa giggled heartily: "You should have seen the look on your face Clare!' I think you just may have enjoyed that at least a little!".

-"Hey you were the same just what are you saying! Besides, you're the one who kissed me!" Clare replied playfully.

-"Well you didn't put up much of a resistance!"

laughing amongst themselves for a whole longer, the two then collapsed back against the grass afterwards, sighing in delight as they lay on their backs staring up at the ever fading light that remained in the sky. A calming silence crept across them as they lay side by side each other,listening to the soothing wind that swept through the fields around them as they recovered from their sudden playful nature.

Teresa turned her face over suddenly, changing the subject: "So Clare, what of Raki?"

"Why do you ask? Do you desire him or something?" Clare said.

"No it's not like that, I just merely thought you were always interested in him. Are you not?"

"...Honestly I'm not sure what to think with Raki...he's a fine man,but," Clare said, letting out a heavy sigh: "But every time we're alone, it just seems a little wrong in the way we look at each other..."

"He's probably intimidated by you I suppose. To him, you're probably uncharted territory or something like that." Teresa sighed.

"What do you mean?" Clare shot over.

"Men and women cannot be friends..." Teresa said.

"Are you...sure about that?"

Teresa laughed to herself lightly, keeping her gaze upwards at the sky:

"Do not argue with the facts of nature. There is a reason the organization has always split us by gender..."

"Even so," Clare said: " I feel as if I could trust him with my life. That to me is a friend."

Teresa remained mute at this, the two left alone to their thoughts at this short philosophical debate they had engaged in. After a short moment, an idea came to Clare's mind, and she shot over at Teresa with a cheeky grin,

"And what about Marcus?"

"What of him?" Teresa said accusingly , turning her face over to the side and throwing Clare an odd look.

Clare chuckled at the expression on her face: "You desire him! Don't give me that!"

-"Hey! I can assure you, I have no such interest in him that's for sure! I think your seeing things!"

"You may be great at everything, but You're a bad Liar Teresa...I know you better than you know yourself..."

Teresa Leant over and threw a playful punch against Clare's shoulder: "Don't you dare say anything to anyone Clare! I don't want you starting rumors about something like that! Clare, I swear, if I find out you're spreading such rumors..."

Clare giggled back: "I'm only playing around, but seriously...what would you do?"

Teresa rolled over, grabbing Clare by the wrists and pinning her down convincingly against the ground. She shot a mischievous grin down at her smiling friend: "Trust me, you don't want to know...before I met you I wasn't exactly the most pleasant individual to be around..."

Though Teresa thought she had the upper hand, she was genuinely taken aback as Clare rapidly rolled herself over, summoning a strength that managing to reverse the situation and pin her down instead.

-"And what if I were to refuse to abide by your orders? Teresa of the faint smile?".

"Refusal is simply not an option Clare...I can be very persuasive. You don't really know me at all. Trust me when I tell you that..."

-"I don't think...you're in a position to be making any threats." Clare said.

The two merely stared at each other for a while, but before long, tender smiles came upon their lips as they fell into a giggle yet again, with Clare resting her head across Teresa's lap when the two sat upwards.

Watching the last of the sun disappear behind the distant mountains, Teresa sighed, "I wonder... how everything would have turned out if things were different..."

"You mean? Back then?".

Teresa nodded sadly: "...Would I have been able to protect you like I promised? The organization would never have stopped until they had my head... What kind of a life would we have had? Constantly living in fear...and what about this mainland? Such a place is not suitable for a child to grow up in either."

A warm smile set across Clare as she nudged in closer to Teresa, wrapping her arms around tightly and digging herself into her wavy hair: "A life without you isn't one worth living for. I wouldn't have it any other way..." she said.

At that moment Teresa's heart melted for this person. Never before had she felt such a bond like this with someone before. Clare was someone whom she could relate to unlike anyone else, and trust with secrets normally best reserved to keep for herself. A true friend who's life she valued even more than that of her own, something she had been searching for her entire life.

"I feel the same way about you... " Teresa smiled as she gently stroked clare's cheek, "So from now on, I suppose we're sisters."

"Or perhaps you're my mother?" Clare teased.

-"Hey! You're about the same age as me so I don't think so. The last time I checked you're no longer a young girl. You and I are equals now."

"I was only kidding...sis."

"Thats a word I haven't heard in a long time..." Teresa said softly, setting her mind back to her own past regarding a certain warrior.

"what do you mean?" Clare said, turning over to look up at her curiously.

"Oh it's nothing important. I'm just glad to be in this moment here with you, sis." Teresa smiled warmly, gently stroking Clare's hair as the sun finally disappeared behind the edge of the world.

* * *

I just couldn't help it with the Teresa and Clare fluff, i think this story was missing it for far too long. i sought to slow things down a little from the previous chapter, and work on developing the many characters especially.


	59. Chapter 59

One reviewer asked about the age of Clare and I never actually thought much on it. I'm not sure if the manga says how old Clare actually is, but my guess was that Clare was around around 10 when she met Teresa as a child, probably 17 when she met raki as a claymore and plus seven years for the time skip would make her 24 currently. Going further into it, Irene said that Claymore's don't age, so Clare would look physically around 21 years (since 21 is apparently the peak age for a human). As for Teresa, well she was a former number one, so it's safe to say she's been an official claymore for longer than Clare, so my guess would make her likely 19 or 20 when she died. I don't believe it's terribly important to the story anyway, but it was a good question I suppose.

I thank everyone for the reviews and subscription and i urge you to keep them up.

I wanted to spice things up a little with this chapter, and i'm curious to see how people will react to this chapter :3 there was a bit of a response from the teresa and Clare sister thing in the previous chapter, but after reading this I hope i've changed your mind. as always, enjoy reading.

* * *

The night was still young when Teresa and Clare returned to the others at the crest of the hilltop. The campfire in the center still lit brightly, and most of the others gathered comfortably around it. Upon arriving closer, Teresa immediately took notice of the distress across Miria. She sat by herself, face lowered in sadness as she gazed at her boots. Intrigued at this, Teresa whispered something to Clare, then moved off to sit next to Miria to discover what was going on.

The two sat in silence for a moment, and for a while Teresa thought whether to tease Miria or not about her predicament with Hysteria. She already suspected the truth behind Miria's strange behavior lately, but had kept this mostly to herself.

"What happened? Miria?" Teresa asked kindly,

"...I couldn't do it...I was in a position to kill her, but I chose not to do it..."

Those were the words Teresa was expecting to her, but still, hearing it directly from Miria herself was another thing all together. Those were such familiar words, poisonous words that were the unfortunate first signs of weakness in a warrior's heart. But at the same time, it only made them more human because of them, so perhaps they were good signs after all.

Miria braced herself for any mocking thrown at her. At least from Teresa, it would be honest and justified. But instead of this happening, Teresa merely passed her a friendly smile,

"It's not as easy as you thought huh?"

Miria smiled back at this, relieved at the softhearted response instead, "You have no idea..."

"So if you didn't kill her then where is she? I don't sense her nearby." Teresa said.

"She's...angry at me... So who knows." Miria said, unable to believe what she had just said.

Teresa sighed, "Sounds like you have problems. How do you even know she's even coming back?"

"She'll be back." Miria said, watching the forest around hopefully for any signs of the tall blonde. "But tell me, What exactly did you do to her back then? she really seems to hate you for it."

Teresa seemed a little surprised to be asked such a question, but that infamous frosty composure never faltered, and she merely answered with a hint hastiness, "Let's just say Hysteria and Myself will never be friends, that's all i'm saying there."

"Some things are better left unsaid, i get it..." Miria said.

Teresa suddenly turned over to meet her eyes, changing the topic abruptly, "Miria, Relationships are far more difficult to handle than any enemy. Tread carefully."

"I already figured that..." Miria said, her cheeks reddening, looking over to her side in an attempt to hide this.

"But you do realize Hysteria is a narcissist? You won't ever be able to change her." Teresa said.

"I know...what am I thinking...This is so crazy..." Miria said, running her hand through her hair in her frustration.

"Yeah it is," Teresa said, adjusting herself to make herself more comfortable. She spared a moment to glance to her side, and was delighted to see Clare approach Raki, the two embracing the other in with wide arms.

"But Sometimes unexpected things happen, deal with them."

"It's quite maddening really..." Miria said, her voice almost trembling, "I first read about her when I was only a young trainee... I even got the idea of my technique from her...and now she's alive all of a sudden and speaking to me and everything...I don't know what to feel..."

"Well if you don't make up your mind then she must be put down...so excuse me." Teresa said sarcastically, ready to raise herself, but was stopped by Miria's rather firm grasp across her lap.

"No, please," Miria said, her voice pathetically insistent.

"I was only kidding..." Teresa said as she lowered herself, satisfied the truth was now out in the open "That was quite the grip there..."

Miria retracted her arms rather hastily, and was too embarrassed to look her in the eye. Teresa was right. Hysteria drove her crazy, and she couldn't think of anything else. Perhaps her rather unhealthy sleeping patterns had a play in all this, or perhaps that was always just the excuse.

Teresa sighed happily as she kicked herself back to a more comfortable position. She spared a glance at Marcus who sat across the opposite end of the fireplace. He caught the gaze and sent her a sleek smile, which she returned quite willingly.

Noticing their exchange, Miria smiled mischievously at the wavy haired warrior who now seemed caught slightly off guard, "I'm starting to notice a lot of new things lately..."

"Good for you, but try to keep them to yourself," Teresa said discretely, folding her arms over and looking at the fire.

"I shall," Miria said.

Teresa threw her a wink back, "By the way, If Hysteria gives you trouble, then let me know and i'll handle it."

"I appreciate it Teresa, thank you, But I don't think that will be necessary."

At that very moment, Miria noticed the outlines of Hysteria's form began to appear in the shadows, and soon enough there, there stood the girl that was on her mind, the one she couldn't get away from. Teresa had quickly noticed her as well, and also the dumbstruck look across Miria's face. Interestingly, Hysteria didn't enter the camp, instead, she just stood there as silent as ever, looking more furious at Teresa than anyone else. After a while, she seemed irritated and disappeared once again into the forest, apparently embarrassed by all the attention.

Teresa leant in and whispered something into Miria's ear that made the warrior blush. Though Miria seemed slightly uncomfortable, she responded with a nod, and she quickly rose to her feet, and left in pursuit of her target.

Looking on curiously nearby, Helen snorted to those around her, "Hey guys, do you think that Miria and Hysteria..."

"Nonsense. It's Miria you're talking about, don't be a fool." Deneve said.

"Yeah i guess you're right." Helen said.

* * *

_Teresa what did you tell her..._

_You know she takes things literally..._

Clare groaned as she watched Miria disappear into the forest in pursuit of Hysteria. She seemed to have Teresa's approval though, and Clare trusted that Teresa had handled the situation properly.

"I wonder what Teresa and Miria are talking about?" Raki said, as he and Clare rested at the far reaches of their camp.

"Probably talking about battle strategies or something like that," Clare said, doubting her own words.

He looked down at her as she rested against his shoulder,and brushed away a bit of her hair neatly, "Clare, there's something bothering me...you and Teresa are so awfully close so..."

"What are you saying?"

"Well, you know what I mean..."

"-Do you really think that ?" Clare said, her face ripe with curiosity.

Raki paused as he thought deeply. He didn't want to dig himself into a grave, and scrambled to say something,.

"Well yeah...You guys are always together...so I thought..." Raki said.

Before he could do finnish his words, Clare playfully slid herself on top of him and looked down at him with a strange cunningness. She seemed a little unsure of what she was doing, but clearly did not lack in confidence to do what was clearly on her mind.

"If you want to keep talking about Teresa, I have no problems with that either..." She said with a new cheekiness to her,

Raki blushed, "Oh wow? What's gone into you?"

"I'm not sure. Did I say something wrong?"

Raki thought for a short moment, "Actually, now that I think about it... not really."

As always, Clare could see the hesitation in his eyes, and she sighed, "Raki are you intimidated by me?"

"I am not intimidated by you. I'm more than twice your weight...don't joke around there,"

"But i'm still stronger,"

"Well i don't know about that..."

Clare gently punched him across his chest, which felt rock hard at the touch. Yet another difference Teresa could not compete with. She bit the bottom of her lip in anticipation, "You are so intimidated by me. I bet you'd do anything I tell you..."

"Oh really?" He pulled her into a kiss, " Are you sure it's not the other way around?"

She smiled back at him, "You know...this new body of mine doesn't have the same disadvantages of before so...I was just thinking that maybe if you want to..."

Raki got the hint, and grabbed Clare's hand as the two slipped into the depths of the forest, heading for the lake at the base of the valley.

* * *

After her talk with Miria, Teresa felt the need to clear her mind and wondered in the solitude of the forest. Sometimes, she just felt the need to get away from people, and enjoy the organic sounds of life, and the aroma of the many plant life that dominated the land. In such a place, her senses appear sharpened. Even the trees around her seemed to have an aura about them.

But this peace was to be disrupted as Teresa anticipated the arrival of a certain warrior and curiously moved through the trees until she noticed the warrior through the shadows. There before her stood Ophelia, looking a little cut up from before.

"Hello there," Teresa said, leaning quite comfortably against an overgrown tree with her infamous faint smile across her.

"Oh great...what do you want," Ophelia growled, splashes of blood in her hair.

"Just a single question. Did you get your much desired revenge?" Teresa smiled.

"What's it to you?-" Ophelia replied harshly.

"I suppose it doesn't really matter anyway,"

"By the way, Aren't you supposed to be Clare's bitch or something? how come you guys are apart?"

Teresa merely smiled back, her fury contained behind her grace, "I'll make you eat your words."

"Screw you."

Snapping on the inside, Teresa out moved Ophelia, stunning her with a kick to the side before smashing her into the ground. Teresa pushed her boot into the back of Ophelia's skull, crushing it into the ground with unnecessary force.

"Originally, I only wanted to play around a little , but instead, I think i'll kill you tonight. I can't forgive what you did to the ones I care about." Teresa said, staring down at her pinned victim.

Though her skull was being stomped on, Ophelia still managed to keep a malevolent smile upon her, almost daring Teresa to go ever further.

"You know, back then, You would have been quite proud of her!" Ophelia hissed, "That girl just doesn't know how to give up! In many ways, she's far stronger than you'll ever be."

"You may be right there, but it doesn't make a difference to you. You're lucky that being dead for so long seems to have a calming effect on the mind. And because i'm in a good mood, I will make this quick and easy." Teresa said, drawing her weapon with a chilling slowness and lining the neck of her helpless victim.

"Go to hell."

Teresa pressed the tip of her blade through the flesh of Ophelia's neck until it dug into the ground. Blood staining the ground, and Her body immediately fell lifeless from under her boot. Satisfied, Teresa removed her boot from Ophelia's skull. She flicked the blood from her blade, and shadily sheathed it a second later.

All of a sudden she heard the sound of someone clapping behind her, and Teresa was awestruck to see Roxanne standing by a tree, a strange sense of excitement to every part of her.

"You cold hearted bitch...I thought Miria was like that but now I know the truth." Roxanne said, her tone almost a tease.

"This is none your concern. We had unsettled business," Teresa brushed off as she moved away, not particularly caring for the body she left behind.

"Your right about that..." Roxanne said, following Teresa gleefully, "Guess I don't want to get on your bad side."

"No you don't."

"Earlier you said you're in a good mood? That's so interesting as you just killed someone and..."

Teresa suddenly stopped, and Roxanne was taken aback as the wavy haired warrior quickly overpowered her and thrust her against the side of a thick tree with a solid grip to the neck. The grip was of iron, her fingers felt strong like metal nails that anchored her down. Teresa's face was still like that of a statue, beaming that shadow of a faint smile,

"Don't mention such a thing ever again. Do you understand?"

Teresa felt merciful and loosened the grip on the girl's neck just enough to let her breathe. Strangely enough, instead of seeing fear, she saw what almost seemed like excitement to Roxanne, a stark contrast to what she expected. For reasons she couldn't quite explain, Teresa's cheeks reddened slightly when Roxanne threw her a suggestive look, one that was not threatening in the least. It was almost playful, and seductive in nature, one that made her feel slightly uncomfortable.

Teresa removed her grip from Roxanne's neck as she asked again, "Ophelia never came back. Do you understand?"

"Yeah no problem." Roxanne said, moving off the tree, almost purring in tone, "Your secret is safe with me...but do you want to do something sometime? " Roxanne said, gently grinding the soul of her foot against the ground in anticipation.

"-Do something?"

"You know, hang out."

"Alright, I quite enjoyed our little match earlier," Teresa said as she sheathed her blade suddenly.

"That's not what I meant but that's fine by me too."

* * *

After their sparring match, the two rested under the stars in a clearing in the forest, only a short distance away from the camp. Both of them were a little tired, but certainly not beaten up by any measure. Once again, Teresa had noticed that Roxanne's power had grown ever so slightly from before, and the longer she fought against her, the tougher her strikes became. It was almost as if Roxanne learned from every mistake, responding perfectly the next time around.

Next to Roxanne, Teresa rested with her eyes closed, looking more like an angel than anything else. Roxanne merely watched on adoringly as Teresa rested. Seeing her opportunity, Roxanne slipped a hand over Teresa's as it rested comfortably near her. Teresa's eyes fluttered open when she felt this, and she was greeted with an alluring smile. Much to Roxanne's satisfaction, Teresa didn't seem to pull away from the gesture, and Roxanne dared further by slowly dancing her fingers up the blonde's arm, and up towards her shoulders, relishing in the innocent reaction of her prey.

"So that's what you had in mind..." Teresa said, watching as Roxanne's fingers danced uncomfortably close to her breasts,

Roxanne pulled herself closer towards a surprised Teresa, pressing herself against her and whispered into her ears seductively, "You know...I'm talented in vary many things...any girlfriend of mine would be subject to such privileges..."

Teresa slipped out of the gesture abruptly without saying a word. Feeling incredibly frustrated that Teresa escaped from her grasp, Roxanne shot a dirty look the wavy haired warriors's way, demanding an explanation.

"Seduction can be a powerful tool..." Teresa smiled off, "But it can also be very risky if done wrong..."

"Wrong huh? Whatever do you mean?-"

"It's one of the skills we were taught in basic human psychology. If done right, It makes manipulation of an individual much easier. It's something we were all taught against, but most of the single digits seem to have forgotten. Besides, Love and Hate is an interesting title. I wonder if there's a connection?" Teresa said accusingly.

Roxanne could barely hold back the incredible excitement she felt over this person. But the longer she stared at Teresa, a strange fear began to manifest that literally made her knees tremble from terror. But strangely enough, Roxanne found herself incredibly turned on by this.

"Caught me red handed. Maybe you should punish me then?"

Teresa threw her a flirtatious look , "Keep trying little girl, but such things won't work on me. Also, I tend to favor the opposite gender. Too bad."

Watching as Teresa began to move away, Roxanne, called out in desperation,

"Hey wait! I admire you Teresa! Ever since I saw you back at that colosseum, I knew that I wanted to be like you! Don't go!"

Teresa stopped in her tracks as she responded soundly,

"And why do you admire me?"

"Are you kidding me? You're like no other! You're perfect! exactly what I want to be!"

"You call me perfect yet you of all people have already seen my faults." Teresa said.

"You're about as close to perfect as they come. I wish you could see yourself from my eyes, because then you would change your mind..."

"Oh my you are quite good at this...keep going..." Teresa insisted.

"You have the most amazing fighting style! I simply love it. You never show your true power either, because it's probably so impressive it probably frightens even you. That's hot."

Teresa seemed rather taken aback by that remark, but before long, her lifeless smile transformed into a grin as she moved forward and poked Roxanne on the forehead, "Not bad... but You're not as good as you think. Seduction is a two way game."

Teresa's face was so close to hers that Roxanne could even taste the scent of her breath in the air. To her, Teresa seemed to actually glow a little under the pale moonshine, almost a force or nature in herself. Roxanne's mind froze for a moment, barely able to put herself together to even articulate a response to this deity of a woman.

Noticing Roxanne's horrendously flushed face, Teresa sighed in victory as she gently pulled away,

"Tell me something Roxanne. What do you seek power for?" Teresa said, looking at the many stars in the skye above.

Still recovering from Teresa's entrancing spell, Roxanne looked at her oddly, "Whatever do you mean? isn't it obvious? we all want to be able to protect ourselves and defeat our enemies."

"And just who are your enemies?"

"Those that try to undermine me. Anyone that gets in the way of my pursuit of power." Roxanne said.

"And what would you do if you were to reach the very top in power?" Teresa said, looking over at Roxanne curiously now.

Roxanne wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that question. She tried to think of the best response that would please Teresa, but simply couldn't think of something that sounded even remotely plausible. If her experience back during her time taught her anything, it's that the pursuit of power was something that could never quite be satisfied, but that was exactly why she liked it.

"If I were to reach the top..." Roxanne said with a pleased look to her, lost to a fantasy in her own head, "Then it would only be a matter of making sure that I stay there...so that would mean simple domination of everyone below me."

Teresa remained silent as she processed Roxanne's bold words. Much of what she heard was something she had heard all before. What she saw in Roxanne was something she saw in herself a very long time ago, though a little less on the crazy side.

"So you only want power to benefit yourself?" Teresa said.

"What other reason is there? If you don't reach the top then someone else will! might as well fight for it! that's how it all works! You're either the pusher or just being pushed!"

"You're right about that," Teresa said with a scrutinizing stare, "But in the end, the one at the top is also the one with the most enemies."

"I'd simply kill all my enemies!"

"Even if they include the ones you once trained and grew together with? The greatest enemies will probably be the ones you once considered comrades."

"What are you trying to say there?" Roxanne said.

"I think you already know what I mean,"

"My only goal is to rise up to your level," Roxanne insisted, "and just so you know, If I were to reach the top, then you would have nothing to worry about, because i'd simply make you my girlfriend and together we would take everything for ourselves."

Almost purring, Teresa replied, "My...quite the charmer you are...If you can manage that then I suppose nothing is off the table... "

_Something tells me there's more to Roxanne than meets the eye... _

_Love and Hate..._

_I'll have to keep a close eye on this one..._

_I should be careful_

* * *

It was a little past midnight, and Roxanne rested atop a steady branch up amongst the treetops. The howling wind was the strongest up here, but it also felt incredibly soothing as it raced through her hair, rejuvenated her body with it's chilly touch. Down below this canopy, The others all slept near the fireplace, completely hidden from the silvery rays of moon that were undisturbed up here.

Her mind kept replaying over and over again the incredible events as of late. Teresa was on her mind all the time and she couldn't sleep because of it. That iron vault that was Teresa's faint smile was driving her mad. The wavy haired warrior was not only incredibly powerful, but also highly intelligent and naturally suspicious in nature. Unravelling her would no doubt be much more difficult than it was for Cassandra, but to Roxanne, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It only made the hunt that much more thrilling.

Sitting up in frustration, Roxanne swung her legs over the edge of the branch and looked down below. She could still see the faint embers of the dying fireplace in the centre of the camp, and had already sensed that most of the others had fallen asleep. Tapping into the many yoki aura's around her, Roxanne tracked Teresa's yoki aura, digging so deep, she managed to peek into her very consciousness, and could senses that the warrior had slipped into a dreamy sleep.

Like a lonely ghost in the moonlight, Roxanne slipped down the treetops and moved as silently as she could towards Teresa, keeping her eyes wide open for any signs of trouble. Most of the ones who were awake were somewhere nearby, and she didn't' think there were any peering eyes upon her currently.

Leaning beside a fallen tree, Teresa slept in the most peaceful manners, a most striking sight for Roxanne. She watched so closely, she could even see the warrior's chest rise and fall from each passing breath she took. The wavy haired warrior had grown on her like a sick obsession, and Roxanne just couldn't take it anymore. She just had to be close to her, to feel her and read every thought that ran through that wonderful mind. Her abilities have grown beyond simply reading yoki, and swore she grew in strength when she was close to her. Approaching the sleeping warrior, Roxanne leaned over her silently, relishing in the intoxicating aura that was Teresa. It was overwhelming, and Roxanne could feel goosebumps creep its way across her skin from the sheer delight of being so close. She thought she was alone, but she was wrong.

"You alright there?" a voice said off to the side.

Roxanne hastily threw herself off Teresa and turned over to see Clare, who stared very strangely at her by close by. She tapped her finger rather loudly along the hilt of her blade in her irritance as she watched Roxanne.

"Oh dear I didn't see you.." Roxanne said, walking towards the her rather casually, "But I swear, it's not what it looks like..."

"I'm not so sure." Clare said, the tapping of her fingers stopping when Roxanne came close enough,

Roxanne smirked at this wariness she saw in her, "So you even guard her when she sleeps? that's adorable. She's lucky to have someone like you."

"I just want to look after her like she once looked after me, that's all. I know that yoki synchronization is your speciality, But what do you plan to do by getting so close? I cannot quite figure that out..." Clare said, flicking her gaze over to Teresa who seemed to be lost to dreams, blissfully unaware.

Doing her best to hide the growing agitation, Roxanne said hack politely, "You're over thinking things. The reason why i'm here is so simple. I just can't stop thinking about Teresa."

Clare Rolled her eyes over in irritance, "Get a hold of yourself..."

"I love Teresa." Roxanne said boldly.

"er What?-" Clare said, momentarily, taken aback by this unexpectedness. Did she just hear what she think she did? and more importantly, did this mean anything?

Roxanne threw her a toxic look with a single hand resting against her thigh, "I know she's important to you, but you can't have her all to yourself! that's not fair! as her friend you would know when to let her go."

"Well maybe you can tell her all these things in person at sunrise. Until now I want you to stay away from her when she sleeps. It's creepy."

"Well can I just hug her or something? at least let me do that before I go." Roxanne said, taking one last desperate glance over towards the delicious scent that was Teresa.

"No."

* * *

Miria made her way through the tangling forest, moving aside the various pieces of foliage and branches that brushed by in the darkness around her. A moment ago, she noticed that Hysteria had left the camp, venturing out towards in this direction all by herself, and she was determined to find out what she was up to.

Noting a clearing in front of her, Miria quickly took notice of the outlines of a figure up ahead, and as she quietly approached the figure, Hysteria's distinct features came into view yet again. The taller warrior stood with a perfect stillness by a soothing river stream that reflected the moonlight. Her eyes were closed and hands resting casually off to her sides.

As Miria stared at her, she found herself running her eyes shamelessly across all parts of Hysteria's body, taking immediate notice of her almost perfect physique. The archives did not lie about this warrior. Everything about her was Elegant, ranging from her striking pair of legs to her posture perfect stance. She towered over almost every other warrior, and possessed a style of fighting Miria herself admitted to being the most beautiful she had ever seen.

Hidden in the shadows, Miria took a step closer, but cursed herself when she snapped a single twig under the weight of her metallic boots. The sound echoed rather loudly through the deafening silence. She didn't often fall for such amateur mistakes, but whenever Hysteria was around, mistakes seemed to have been made a little more often that she'd like.

Hysteria's eyes fluttered open at this sound, taking immediate notice of this intruder by her side. she didn't seem too happy to be disturbed, and made this clear by putting on a stubborn stare at her.

"Are you here to apologize? if not then you may leave." she said.

"I don't need to apologize to you. You who took the cowardly way out." Miria replied, moving towards the small water stream Hysteria stood against, sinking her boots into the wettened soil.

Hysteria felt compelled to reply wittily,: "Cowardly? Oh I don't know about that. Something tells me you're pretty capable of killing if you really have to..."

"Depends on the circumstances... If it's to save my comrades, I would do anything to win in such a situation. I would continue to fight even if I only have my mouth to wield a blade.."

Hysteria smirked at this. Those words sounding strangely familiar to her for some reason, :"Such a stubborn devotion. It's funny because you claim my weakness is the beauty in my technique, but I say that your ridiculous empathy is your weakness..."

The two fell to silence for a moment, lost to their own thoughts the as they listened to the gentle ambience of the forest around them. Such a topic wasn't the most comfortable of situations to behold, and both contemplated the words of the other with great intrigue. Occasionally, one of them would notice the other looking over, and when their eyes met, they looked away in embarrassment.

Before long, Hysteria held out her hand and looked at the center of her palm, "You were only a number six, and I a number one, so of course you wouldn't understand someone like me..."

-"Try me."

"Miria, If your comrades were to try to take your life... would you honestly not defend yourself?" Hysteria said.

Miria remained silent as she contemplated these words of this most glamorous warrior. The two having no issues with staring directly at the other this time. Now that she had a good look, they were the most pretty eyes Miria had ever seen,

"...i'm not sure what I would do...but like I said, I would do anything for the greater good."

Hysteria grinned Miria's way mischievously afterwards: "You know...You're either very brave or very foolish for arriving here alone..."

"What? You want to massacre me as well?" Miria teased.

Hysteria merely stared at this most intriguing woman before her, biting the bottom of her lip delightfully as she found herself absorbed by the nature of her unique spiky hair. Though she was a strong warrior, one with a natural backbone to lead others, in Hysteria's eyes, she was also an impostor, someone who stole her technique. But she was also the most prettiest of thieves she's ever seen.

"Miria I despise you!" she said angrily "Your version of my technique is so vastly inferior it's laughable...and your annoying obsession for your comrades is something that gets on my nerves like nothing else. You want to save everyone...but most of them wouldn't do the same for you! It's such a naive way of thinking!"

-"Maybe it is a bit naive, but I don't know any other way to live my life..."

Visibly intrigued, Hysteria suddenly charged towards Miria, stopping right before her. She flicked her hair off to the side, a look of delicious passion across her. "Even though I do truly despise you," she said, running her eyes across Miria hungrily: " I also find that I am quite attracted to you. So I think I will make you mine now."

-"What?" Miria said, almost biting on her own tongue. She wasn't entirely sure she even heard that correctly. Did Hysteria imply what she thought she did?

"What are you saying? Did you not hear me? I said that I want to make you mine. Are you deaf?"

The blood quickly drained from Miria's cheeks. For a full few seconds, her lips were completely frozen, unsure how to respond to this most elegantly warrior. Though she couldn't deny her interest in this rather glamorous woman, a strong feeling of doubt resurfaced within her. She was not particularly keen to feel such a way for a fellow comrade, and had always planned to keep it that way, no matter how alluring Hysteria proved to be at this moment.

"Do you not find me attractive?" Hysteria said, looking back frustratingly at Miria's mute response. She placed a hand against her hip, making her displeasure physically clear, whist playing with a single braid on her hair.

" It's quite rare when I fancy someone," she huffed, " So you should take that as a compliment. So are you interested or not?"

"...It's not that i'm not...it's just that I simply cannot afford to get involved with anybody. I have other things on my mind...I'm sorry.."

A look of disappointment came across Hysteria as she let out a gentle sigh, her eyes lowering slightly: "what a terrible burden to behold... you're so obsessed with the safety of everyone else that you completely forget about the pleasures in life..."

"It's a burden I chose for myself." Miria said.

Hysteria grinned mischievously: " You know...I could simply have my way with you if I wanted..."

Miria shot back: "You may be faster and more accurate than me, But in such a place, my particular style is more useful than yours."

"Oh my is that so? oh do enlighten me?".

" While you use your technique to step forward, I basically do the opposite and use it to evade from any direction. In a forest, with all this coverage, I have the advantage unlike last time."

Hysteria's face stiffened, throwing Miria a cunning look as she drew her blade in a challenging manner, seeing this as a blow to her ego.

"Shut up! That's not true! Why don't you prove it to me!"

"No I don't think so. We don't want to attract any attention."

"What do you mean no? Just because I fancy you that doesn't mean I'm not afraid to hurt you! So Get up you!" Hysteria ordered.

Miria shot her a cautious look, keeping her eyes firmly locked upon Hysteria as she sized up the former number one for real this time. Though she was dwarfed In Height by this taller warrior, she wasn't particularly intimidated by her either. Hysteria was somebody she found quite fascinating in so many ways, and the prospect of a second fight between them was a strangely thrilling thought.

"Fine," Miria said, letting out a gentle sigh:"...But if I win, I don't want to hear you whine about it for ages to me afterwards."

"Whatever!"

Noticing the particular movement of Hysteria's feet, Miria saw the beginnings of the elegance technique and soared off to the side to avoid the warrior that slipped by her like a pedal in the wind. Unlike last time, she now had experience at fighting this warrior, and had ample time to successfully evade the attack successfully, though only by a paper thin margin.

She Landed gently atop an aging leafless branch as she watched her opponent like a hawk,

Hysteria spared her an irritated glance from down below:

-"So you figured out my movements... it's about time you caught up to me in that aspect." Hysteria said.

"While I normally can't compete with you head to head, let me show you the reason I was named the phantom...but don't worry, I won't hurt you...that much,"

"Just shut up! What are you talking about? Hurry up and attack me already!"

Without any notice, Miria leapt off the branch, disappearing into the shadows as she thundered around the forest, appearing in one area and then the next. Using the thick dense of trees and bushes to her advantage, Miria appeared in one moment for a split second, then seemingly ghosted to another a moment later, leaving behind only snapped twigs and rustling leaves in her wake. She accelerated through the forest floor at impressive speeds under the cover of darkness, more like an apparition than a physical object.

-"What's this? What are you doing?" A confused Hysteria said, seeing nothing but a bunch of mirages around her.

To Hysteria's eyes, the many shadows of the trees combined with Miria's after images made for a very difficult time to track her whereabouts. Already she was getting frustrated that Miria may have been right after all. It was nearly impossible to track her location at any given time, as the only clues to her whereabouts were multiple images which she couldn't quite distinguish between a shadow or the real target. The nature of the forest made her sense of hearing basically useless in detecting direction due to the many echoes, and Miria herself was quite clever in controlling her flow of yoki also, making it difficult to read her aura.

"Hey! Stop trying to confuse me! That is such a dirty way of fighting! It's so disgusting that I almost feel like throwing up! Stop hiding and show yourself -!"

Hysteria was blown away when Miria suddenly shadowed in from the side, taking her by surprise and ramming her into the running river and pinning her against a rocky limestone edge. Hysteria grunted under the surprising strength of this warrior, who's grip against her neck was as solid as a chiseled statue from marble. Though Hysteria wasn't known for her muscular strength, she wasn't particularly weak either, but Miria proved to be a warrior who seemed to edge her out in this department by quite a convincing margin.

Their hair and clothes were left completely soaked, and for a moment the two of them were merely lost in the gaze of the other. Miria admired the way Hysteria's hair stuck to the side of her neck, and down and over her curvy shoulders. Much of her form was now exposed further, and though she seemed frustrated at being held down, a shameless smile across the elegant warrior told Miria otherwise.

Miria whispered into her ear, "You may have been a former number one... And me only a number six...But I'm a little stronger physically, and though it is true you are faster than me, all that speed means nothing if you can't move. Admit it. your simply overpowered. How's this for not being ignored?"

Struggling under Miria's hold, Hysteria said almost in a tone that edged on begging, "Oh my... maybe you can have your way with me instead..."

"I already told you, I'm not interested..." Miria said,

She released her grip from Hysteria's neck, sheathing her weapon back in its holster across her back and moving to exit the water. Hysteria's face was drained from satisfaction, and she yelled back at Miria angrily from within the river.

"Don't you think you've won or anything like that! If we were fighting in a fair open field you wouldn't stand a chance!"

"You should learn to accept facts. The Fact is that we are not in an open field and you lost. This world is not a beauty contest as you may believe." Miria shot back.

Hysteria's expression tightened ever so slightly at this: -"I did not lose! I simply let you win! don't be ridiculous Miria...you merely got lucky!"

Miria sighed in defeat. She knew that with Hysteria she would never win in an argument, "...This was a terrible idea for me to even come here...I'll leave you alone to your thoughts. I'm sorry for disturbing you..."

"You're the one who followed me to this place! You must have wanted something?"

"I simply like to make sure everyone's alright...even somebody who cares for nobody but themselves. Your life is as important to me as anyone else's."

Hysteria passed her an alluring glare : "You may think that is the case, but I think we both know you didn't come here to simply check up on me..."

"I don't know what you're taking about..."

Hysteria smirked delightfully: "You are so boring Miria... why do you do these things to me? It's so frustrating..."

Miria was left wide eyed as Hysteria slipped through the water, pressing her against the rivers edge and gently planting her lips against hers in an instant. A dirty pleasure nullified Miria for a moment as Hysteria's lips homed upon hers. Miria's body tingled with a strange sensation when Hysteria touched her in places she would rather her not, something that made her cringe with suspense. She couldn't help but moan with a shameless delight as Hysteria's kisses moved down the side of her neck, nibbling her here across this most sensitive area.

Satisfied, Hysteria slowly pulled herself away afterwards, her eyes locked upon this deeply blushing warrior before her,

"I told you I'd make you mine...I always get what I want you see."

"...You think I'm yours now? You...are so mistaken..." Miria said.

The next thing Hysteria knew, the spiky haired warrior climbed on top of her as the two lay by the riverbed. Miria pinned both Hysteria's hands off to the side whist kissing her victim passionately from beneath. She knew her partner enjoyed this act terribly, and Miria bit the bottom of her lip as she chucked Hysteria a challenging look,

"I am not yours. I do not belong to you or anyone else. Make sure you keep that in mind..."

"That's what you think."

Miria lost herself in the intoxicating scent that was Hysteria. She kissed her again, and her partner responded in kind, letting out little moans of pleasure that she found entrancing.

"This...doesn't leave the forest..." Miria said.

"Of course not...but do you think you can let me go? your grip is rather tight..." Hysteria said, attempting to free herself from the grip only to end up being overpowered yet again. The hold Miria had across her wrists tightened from before, and the harder she tried, the tighter it became. Though she would normally have found such a situation uncomfortable, she couldn't stop the blood from rushing into her cheeks as she found herself enjoying this situation shamelessly.

"Maybe you're right, perhaps I've been too nice for too long...i've had a little advice from a friend, so I think it's time to explore my other, slightly more vicious side if you don't mind..."

"Oh my...please do..." Hysteria said, almost shivering with anticipation.

Miria's eyes flooded with a bright yellow, relishing at the ecstatic energy that flooded throughout her body. She stared deeply into the eyes of this most glamorous warrior before her. Hysteria was gorgeous, a mirror image of her perfect self. There was simply too much to be admired at one time, and Miria simply couldn't help herself but to be lost in the moment with the one person that drove her mad.

* * *

told you i'd spice things up :P Even Claymore's need a little love sometimes. if you have any suggestions for this story don't hesitate to let me know as idea's are something you can never have enough of.


	60. Chapter 60

sry for the wait.

* * *

Cassandra headed as far inland as she could, marching blindly through an ever thickening forest to an untold destination. Of course now that it was already past sundown, her exact location was difficult to know, going deeper and deeper into the unknown, into nature's domain.

This place didn't resemble anything like back on the island, and for the most part, appeared completely untouched by man. Everything seemed lost to age, each tree seemingly with a story of it's own. Large overgrown roots broke through the earth, and a light blanket of fog hovered above blanketing most that it touched. If Any human were to get lost in this forest, they would have a terrible time getting out, Cassandra thought.

On her way through this organic maze, Cassandra often passed by signs of of previous battles, either from the markings of a sword or the claws from a massive beast. Some seemed fresh, but others seemed very old. She had also come across a few dead corpses, almost all of them claymore warriors, both male or female rotting on the ground. But oddly enough, there were no signs of what killed them, and no signs of any draconic warriors for that matter.

Cassandra figured these were the remnants of the war between the two species, a war going on for quite some time, and nothing to do with her.

Along this endeavor, she reverted herself back into her more familiar humanly self, finding it more comfortable to walk with her own two feet. She was in a state of denial, at times even unsure whether all this was actually real, or if this was some sort of a nightmare she would wake from. She was incredibly hungry, and her mind simply couldn't focus on anything else but the thought of a meal. The problem was, she had an intense urge for human flesh and blood, and it was beginning to be impossible to ignore.

Much to her satisfaction, Cassandra caught the scent of something delicious in the air. She quickened her pace until she saw what looked like a small undisturbed town seemingly in the middle of no where. Being so late in the night, it was likely that most of the inhabitants were asleep, and by the look of things, it didn't seem particularly threatening from the outside.

Shrugging this off, Cassandra followed her instincts and entered the settlement. She approached the closest hut where the scent was strongest, and peered into the window out of curiosity. Inside, she saw a lit candle burning on a plain table in the middle of the room, and a bunch of old books scattered around the many shelves that filled most of the walls. But no signs of anyone, or the source of the scent.

Heading for the door, Cassandra was surprised to feel that it was already open, and swiftly moved inside the enclosure. She noticed that over at the table, one of many books had the word word 'Claymore' printed across the cover, but didn't think much about it due to her hunger, and simply pressed on further.

The scent was the strongest just ahead, and as Cassandra entered the next room, she was stricken to see that she was not alone. There was a man with long silvery hair sitting on a large leather sofa, Isley, and a younger familiar girl with short brown hair admiring the fireplace near them. At first glance the girl seemed like an ordinary human, but when Cassandra felt the presence of a powerful yoki in her, she became more wary.

"Put on some clothes, woman." Isley said, scrambling around to remove his cloak for her.

He threw it over and Cassandra grabbed it easily, but with her eyes still locked upon him. She wrapped it around herself, but the warmness of the fur did nothing for her. She could no longer feel cold in the traditional sense, but she did appreciate the gesture. She did not consider Isley an ally, and had done everything she could to avoid any contact with him in the past, and thus she felt very embarrassed at this entire situation.

"Thanks..." she blushed.

"Cassandra, I must offer you a beverage, now that you've 'joined the club', so to say." Isley said before looking over to his side at his companion at the fireplace, "Hey Priscilla are they done yet?"

Priscilla seemed far too interested in attempting to cook something over the fireplace than listen to anything happening around her. She held an old iron sword above the fire, cooking strange bits of meat she had placed across it. The charred flesh looked nothing like the flesh of a human nor a yoma, and the blood was a completely different color also. It was a strange purple hue, and not bright red like that of a human or animal.

For Cassandra the scent was beyond intoxicating, and couldn't help but salivate from pure delight.

Priscilla took the sword out of the fire and turned it to Isley for approval.

-"Done. Are these one burnt too?"

Isley rolled his eyes over, "Yes those are burnt...like all the other ones... For a woman you really cannot cook..."

Priscilla threw him an annoyed glare, "Well, i've never really learned...so you can't hold me accountable for that! I'm more than proficient with swords, but not for cooking."

Cassandra could barely hold back herself as she glared feverishly at the freshly cooked meat that was almost within arms length. She didn't care for the charred parts Isley was quick to dampen, and simply had to eat something, no matter how bad of a cook Priscilla apparently was.

"What is that? it smells so delicious..." Cassandra said.

"Dragon's meat," Isley said, his silvery eyes inspecting her own curiously, " And would you believe, this stuff actually tastes better than...well... people. It's already good raw, but when it's cooked, that's when it tastes best."

Her stomach was going to kill her, but before Cassandra got ahead of herself, she suddenly realized just who, this girl, Priscilla actually was. Behind those seemingly ordinary brown eyes and face of innocence was the monster from the colosseum.

Cassandra jumped from fright; "You! the one with the single horn! Ridiculous! Why are you here?!"

Priscilla looked at her lazily, taking yet another small bite of her dragons meat sword kebab but did not respond.

-"So you two know each other? Priscilla! don't be so rude! We have a guest..." Isley nagged.

"I suppose I am being a little rude," Priscilla said as she held the sword kebab over, "You're probably dying for a meal..."

Cassandra, as always, was skeptical of this kindness, and was careful for any deception. Not long ago, Priscilla the awakened was ready to mercilessly kill her in front of roaring thousands, but now she offered food instead? Her past had taught her the value of deception, and always chose to play cautious.

"Back at the colosseum, I was about to get my revenge, but you stopped me..." Cassandra said, moving away to cause some space between them.

"Revenge?"

"You were in my way and I must ask you why...It had nothing to do with you."

Priscilla licked her lips, "I have nothing personally against You, but you were a danger to everyone back then so I did what I had to."

"What you had to?"

"Besides, now I know the limits of my power..."

Cassandra silently grumbled to herself, while Isley listened on as though hearing this for the first time.

Priscilla changing the subject; "Cassandra was your name? I've heard of you. Forgive me as history was never my strong point...but I do believe you were called the dust eater."

Cassandra grabbed the sword from Priscilla hastily, and took a bite of the delicious food struck across it.

"Not bad huh?" Priscilla smiled.

"The first one is always the best." Isley said.

Hasty in her devourment of the food, Cassandra almost forgot she was being rude, and her mind suddenly caught up to her. she shot them a hawkish gaze. There was a question she wanted to get off her chest.

"...So what does one do when they are awakened?"

Both of them looked at her as though she had said something strange. But the man with silvery hair was the first one to break the silence.

"Nobody can tell you what to do with your life. Just do what you want to do. he said.

"What I want to do?"

"Yeah, what's the one thing you've always wanted to do? Picture that in your mind, then just do that." Isley said.

Priscilla seemed to pay attention to what he was saying also, though the faint smile across her lips not looking all that innocent. Cassandra ignored this and thought more about herself, and how that question applied to her. Initially, she was unsure about the 'one thing she wanted to do', But soon enough, she realized that was the easiest question imaginable. The face of the devil herself came to mind.

"I want to kill...Roxanne."

"Honestly can't say i'm surprised..." Isley said.

Priscilla seemed visible stricken at the sound of that name, a sight most curious. "Roxanne!? The one with the pigtails back at the city?"

Cassandra looked at her dimly. "Yeah. You were a great help to her by the way. I almost had her at that colosseum but you screwed it up."

"Well if it makes you feel any better, Roxanne stabbed me in the back! literally!"

"I saw that. You shouldn't have trusted her."

"But why would someone do that? betray a teammate like that? I was on her side at the time... that's just pure insanity..." Priscilla said.

"Roxanne is a bitch plain and simple," Cassandra said coldly, "You must learn to understand this. Knowing her, she probably stabbed you just to see you awaken so she could satisfy her own curiosity."

Cassandra was a little annoyed now. She hated talking about Roxanne. But even so, the girl never seemed to leave her mind, and it was this that was most maddening thought of all.

When she first met Roxanne a long time ago, there was an instant attraction she felt towards her that could not be accounted for, and soon enough, two became very close. Roxanne was a completely different person to her, often touted as the 'bad girl' of the organization, but it was this badness that Cassandra found herself attracted to.

Roxanne managed to spark an excitement from within her that she didn't know she had, and soon enough the two would spend time together whenever possible, even working around their schedules so they could meet in between missions. Together they spoke about all things girls do, even ones with giant swords, and even though such closeness was strongly discouraged by the organization, breaking the rules with Roxanne was a strangely thrilling feeling.

But there was always something odd about Roxanne that made Cassandra think twice. Every time she was assigned to go on an awakened being hunt, Roxanne simply wouldn't leave her alone, asking again and again if she could accompany her. This soon grew to an obsession that made Cassandra grow very suspicious of Roxanne. She never wanted to reveal her dreadful technique to Roxanne. She was afraid Roxanne would lose interest in her, or worst, mock her for it.

Of course Roxanne had discovered her technique soon enough and approached her one fateful afternoon. There was a smile across her malicious face that was almost sickening, and the snakeish look to her eyes pure evil, but it was what she said next that was most painful...

"_Dust Eater"_

Roxanne broke their friendship, and Cassandra was left crushed by this betrayal. Her worst fears had come true, and the person she grew to care for had now become her worst enemy who now threatened to destroy her.

"What did Roxanne do to you for you hate her so much?" Priscilla said.

"It's personal...just know I will drag her to hell for it."

"That bad huh? Then I suspect Galatea and her group are probably at risk..." Isley said, pouring himself a glass of a partially cracked broken bottle of champagne from a side desk.

Cassandra looked at him oddly. She had noticed something between him and Galatea, but that was only because Roxanne had pointed it out before. She wasn't entirely sure what his motives were, but she played along;

"No doubt Roxanne will drastically grow in strength, and accomplish this through lies and deceit. She is highly intelligent and will exploit any weakness in someone's character to the fullest. There will probably be many victims in her pursuit of power." Cassandra said.

"...You women are such fascinating creatures..." Isley smirked as he took a sip of his wine.

* * *

Skye was never particularly good at sensing yoki, but she could still feel the energies of those around her in the night, some asleep, and others, still very much awake. This constant awareness triggered an instinctual paranoia where she found herself obsessing over trying to keep track of all. Any sign of danger alerted her, and especially now that she was surrounded by dozens of very capable killers. It drove her insane, but it was this deep analysis of things that seemed to keep her alive until now, so she couldn't afford to give up on it.

Whilst most of her comrades rested upon the very top of the nearby hill, Skye rested a little further down in an open field grassy field, along a rather steep gradient in the forming valley. Her metallic bow rested alongside her, next to the heavy stack of bolts of arrows that foes along with it.

Skye swore she felt the presence of Ophelia earlier in the night, but then she also felt a little of Teresa's, and then could no longer sense a thing of Ophelia's. She figured it was in her best interest to stay out of other people's business, and did not ask Teresa any questions regarding what she had sensed. She didn't want to intrude on anyone else's business.

As she lay comfortably, Skye pulled on the shining mesh string of her bow with a stroke of a finger, then let go to hear the powerful vibration echo out into her surroundings. She had discovered that doing this periodically actually seemed to sharpen her sensing abilities, if only a little. Most times the echo brought back only silence, but when she pulled it again, she felt the faintest presence of someone nearby.

Skye made sure to suppress her yoki aura to the maximum, then double checked that all 17 of her hidden blades were accounted for. Satisfied, she went in pursuit of this mysterious stranger, leaving her trust bow behind.

The grass conveniently towered higher than herself as she approached the center of the field, and after only a moment the mysterious aura revealed itself to be none other than Roxanne.

Skye wasn't one to be judgmental of others, but in the case of Roxanne, it seemed a little different. There were few things that scared her, and lately, Roxanne had become one of them. She wasn't sure what Roxanne was doing here, but she grew heavily suspicious.

Skye's spine tingled a little when the maddened warrior's movements suddenly slowed. Stricken by Paranoia, Skye instinctually lowered herself lower towards the ground, restricting her breathing to the bare minimum to avoid detection.

She followed Roxanne out of the fields, and further down below a mountain base to the beginnings of a small waterfall within natural rock foundations. She watched as Roxanne approached what looked like an unconscious figure laying in the grass just before the base of the water. It was a woman with silverish hair laced into a single pigtail, wearing a rather worn regulator gear and a face that nobody could ever forget.

Even though Skye respected the privacy of others, she simply had to know what was going on here. She moved out from behind the trees to reveal herself.

"Excuse me…What are you doing?"

Roxanne appeared a little surprised to see an intruder; "It's not really any of your concern, and besides, isn't it past your bed time you little brat?"

"I'm an adult! and I get the strangest suspicion that you must be up to no good…"

Roxanne stepped closer to the smaller girl, but Skye refused to be intimidated.

"You really are very nosy. But if you must know...technically, I saved her life..." Roxanne said.

"Why do I actually believe you?" Skye said, merely glanced down at the unconscious warrior.

"It's not like I care that much for her, but I'm just curious to know why Teresa hated her so much..." Roxanne said.

Roxanne tapped the side of Ophelia with her boot in an attempt to wake her, but there was no response from the unconscious warrior.

" Don't kid yourself. You and I both know the reason you saved her life..."

"Huh?"

Skye smiled happily. "I watched the both of you closely back at the colosseum. You two in particular seemed to have enjoyed yourselves, and actually worked great as a team."

"So?" Roxanne said.

"And even though you seem like a crazy person..."

"-I am not crazy! why does everyone always say that?!"

Skye added with sincerity;" it seems that even you have a soft side after all. You wanted to protect her from Teresa simply because you like her company and didn't want to see her go. But are you sure you want to mess with someone like Teresa?"

"Assuming you won't tell her, she will never know." Roxanne winked.

"And did it ever occur to you that you may be playing Teresa's game all along? Perhaps she saw through your little sensory control tricks." Skye said.

A look of deep unsettlement came across Roxanne. She hadn't thought of that, and suddenly cursed herself for being so overconfident as of late. Teresa was one clever person, and she couldn't eliminate the possibility that she may have been outplayed at her own game. Perhaps she had made the mistake of underestimating Teresa, or perhaps, these thoughts were just wild paranoia triggered by a warrior she barely even knew.

Out of no where Ophelia roared to life and her arm grabbed one of Roxanne's legs with a powerful grip. Skye felt her stomach cringe the moment a pair of snake-like eyes roared into life and shot their way up their way.

"Fucking Teresa killed me." Ophelia spat.

Roxanne wriggled her foot away from Ophelia's grip.

"She almost did. Lucky for you she didn't cut off your head though... Then you would have been really dead..." Roxanne said.

"Lucky me."

Ophelia rose to her feet, and seemed rather taken aback to notice her sword planted nearby. She looked curiously over at Roxanne, and remembered the two of them fighting alongside each other a while back. They would often exchange curious glares at each other during that battle, fascinated by the others fighting style.

"Hey Ophelia! I've never been stabbed before through the neck, but I can imagine it's not the most pleasant of feelings. Sucks to be you." Roxanne said.

"Yeah...this neck sure has been through a lot...but I want you to explain to me how you managed to fool Teresa... " Ophelia said.

Roxanne raised a brow: "Fool Teresa?"

"Somebody like Teresa wouldn't leave any mistakes behind, especially after what happened to her at the colosseum...I'm only alive because of one of you, and I already have a pretty good guess who's responsible.."

Ophelia then looked over Roxanne with a frightening smile; "Hey, are you just doing this to mess with Teresa's head?"

Roxanne grinned shamelessly. "Well that sounds like a conspiracy theory..."

"...i'm sure it is. What do you have against Teresa?"

Roxanne smiled shamelessly. "I love Teresa, so why would I ever hurt her?"

"Huh? You love her? Unless you mean..…Oh I get it..." Ophelia said.

The younger Skye seemed a little confused, and both Roxanne and Ophelia noticed this weakness in the girl quickly. The two of them rushed to change the direction of their conversation.

Skye felt partially out of place when it came to these two, but continued to stick around for the sake of knowing what was going on.

* * *

Due to a strange disturbance as of late, Teresa found that she could no longer find the peace within herself to rest any longer. She didn't know what this deep unrest was, but it was terribly unsettling. It was only a few hours until sunrise, and her eyes were wide open, watching the dying fire in the centre of the camp. The embers looked like the eyes of an awakened, bright red just like Riful, and every shadow and movement around her yet another blade ready to strike her when she least expected it.

Earlier, she had a dream, or rather nightmare, and it was about Roxanne. As much as that crept her out, there was a very strange 'realness' to the dream that made little sense to her. In the dream, _she was in a familiar rainforest, with the scent of moisture strong around her and the overwhelming darkness engulfing almost all things. She flew through the forest like an insect, or more specifically, a butterfly with beautiful wings flapping through the lush space. She arrived at an oddly familiar camp, and noticed many figures sleeping around a dying campfire. One of them looked terribly like herself, the same __hair, figure, even face and clothes. But before she could make sense what was going on, a pair of demonic eyes broke through the night, and an evil presence suddenly made itself known._

_Much to her surprise it was somebody who had already crept her out before, Roxanne, and Teresa watched helplessly as the freaky warrior drew closer to her dreaming body. At that moment, there was a strange connection between them, and Teresa could feel her own yoki being greatly disturbed. Though it was a strangely pleasant feeling, Teresa tried her best to fight off this corruption, but was horrified to realize she was powerless._

_Just when she was about to give up hope, there was a brilliant flash of light in the sky, and an angel with wings as white as snow and hair as fair as silk descended down below. She was like a perfectly chiseled statue, with a face of pure beauty what could only be described as an architecture of perfectly smooth glass. Her hair was cut short, so similar to Clare's it was frightening. The aura of this figure reminded Teresa of Clare too, and Teresa simply watched in awe as the angel drew a mighty sword and struck down the demon woman with a single effortless swoop._

_The last thing Teresa remembered was a simple smile the angel sent her way, and with that, the nightmare was over. _

Teresa couldn't remember much after that, and she looked over at her dear friend who lay nearby;

"Hey Clare, are you asleep?" Teresa whispered over, trying not to wake the others around her.

Clare's eyes shot open the moment she heard that voice and turned to meet her friend.

"No, You?"

"If I was asleep, then how could I be talking to you?"

"Well..Maybe you're sleep talking..." Clare joked.

"Funny..." Teresa sighed as she rose to her feet, picking up her claymore and moving away. "I'm off to catch some air. I won't be long."

Teresa had noticed an eagerness across Clare's face that she just couldn't ignore. She called out to her friend;

"Clare, would you accompany me?"

Clare nodded quicker than was necessary, bringing a smile to Teresa that only she could.

* * *

For Clare, There was always a warmth when Teresa and herself were together, something that Raki could never quite compete with. When she was around Teresa, Clare felt as though she can be more of herself, if that were even possible. Teresa brought out the best of her, and there was an understanding between them few others had. As much as she cared for Raki, Teresa will always be the one her heart most cherished.

The two of them had left the safety of the camp, spending time together along the edge of a nearby river down at the valley. The forest was much more spread out down here, only slightly ambienced by the soothing sound of the trees and gentle waters.

For a while now, Teresa had shown Clare how to make rocks skid across the surface of the water. She explained it was all in the spin and the technique of the throw, and the girl was a quick learner. Perhaps a little too quick for Teresa's liking. Before long, Clare's throws were rivaling the precision of her own, and it wasn't long until one of her shots almost made it to the other side of the waterway.

"That one went almost as far as yours..." Clare said, barely able to see through the dense fog at such a distance.

Teresa clapped excitedly for her, before picking up another stone with a free hand,

"I should watch out...you're nibbling at my heals. Before long you may just end up being the rival i've always wanted."

"Rival you've always wanted?" Clare said oddly.

"You seem to be taken by surprise. It's only natural the two of us would see each other more and more that way."

"But...I do not wish to be your rival..." Clare said.

"What's wrong? Are you afraid of a little competition Clare?" Teresa said with a cheeky smile.

"Competing is different. I don't necessarily mind to compete, but that doesn't mean we're rivals. It could never be so for me, because I owe you more than I can ever hope to repay."

Teresa was lost for words. She wasn't entirely serious when she said they were rivals, but was pleasantly surprised to hear such kind words from her dear friend.

Clare's face stiffened as she changed the subject curiously, suddenly recollecting on a moment a while back.

"Hey by the way Teresa, I was just wondering if you saw Ophelia around?"

"...Not really...why do you ask?" Teresa lied, hidden behind her faint smile.

"Just wondering," Clare said, looking a little skeptical; "And what's going on with you and Roxanne?"

"Me and Roxanne?" Teresa said, genuinly fascinated at where Clare was going with this.

"I noticed that when you spent some time with her, there was a slight disruption in your yoki signature afterwards. I'm not sure what to make of this..."

"A disturbance?"

"Even Galatea tells me this is so. You didn't notice?"

Indeed Teresa couldn't believe she hadn't noticed this. Something so obvious surely couldn't have escaped her the entire time. There have been quite a few odd happenings recently, and perhaps most of them originated from the one source she had been blinded from. For her yoki aura to be disturbed as Clare had said, then some outside force would have had to have interfered with her bodies' normal wave patterns, and the center of it was was likely to be miss Love and Hate, Roxanne.

Teresa had already suspected Roxanne had messed with her senses once before, but had the girl taken it one step further and managed to influence her thoughts? Had Roxanne manage to indoctrinate her the entire time?"

All of a sudden the girl was a hundred times more dangerous than Teresa had originally given her credit for, realising she may have underestimated the power of this warrior. The thought was infuriating, and Teresa's instincts quickly homed in on the sudden realization to the seductive truth.

"I'm sure it's nothing...Roxanne's crazy...Are you next going to tell me the girl watches me in my sleep?" Teresa joked off.

But Clare didn't seem humoured, and Teresa quickly got the disturbing message.

"Wait! What did Roxanne do to me?!" Teresa said, her usual calm voice now painfully annoyed.

"Don't worry, she didn't do anything because I was there, but when I called out to her, she said she loved you. What's up with that?"

"There's something very wrong with that girl...But then again, none of us are perfectly sane either." Teresa sighed.

"No disagreements there. By the way, i'm sorry I didn't come by to check up on you earlier. But, you see, I was with Raki and...well...things happened..."

"Yeah yeah I get it..." Teresa said, masking her blush. "Good for you to have a boy toy..."

"I don't know about that, but It feels strange," Clare added with a cringed look to her; " I never imagined us together in such a way, and In many ways he still looks at me the same way as back then, and I of him..."

"This is why i've always stayed away from Relationships."

Clare's face stiffened all of a sudden, sinking lower to the ground. She turned around and began to head away from the vicinity, with a look of newfound determination on her.

"And where are you going?" Teresa said.

"As you know, Audrey will be back by sunrise, and I intend to tell Raki exactly how I feel before that happens."

"Do whatever you think you have to. I'll have your back no matter what happens." Teresa said.

"Thanks Teresa. Just remember to come back by sunrise yourself..." Clare said with a mischievous smile before moving off.

"Be back by sunrise? - " A confused Teresa said.

But Clare had already left.

* * *

Rafaela tended to patrol the hilltop alone, looking around to see if there were any problems around. Seeing as nobody else seemed bothered, she took it upon herself to regulate the area and maintain order, refusing to leave it up to sheer chaos alone. Earlier in the night, there were various fights between the other island warriors, but nothing beyond her control. Few dared to challenge her authority, and those who did became temporary problems that were easily solved. Though her justice was served with an iron first, there were no casualties under her watch.

Rafaela noticed something most peculiar up ahead and shortly stumbled upon three others that seemed like they were up to no good. She approached them silently.

"What's going on here..." Rafaela grumbled.

"I dunno...but it's nothing really of importance...I think." Skye said.

"Yeah and don't worry Rafaela, if we see any problems, we'll make sure to report them to you. Especially if it involves your freak for a sister." Roxanne said.

"Rafaela? Sister?" Ophelia said.

"Yeah! The dreaded Luciela of the South! have you heard of her during your time?" Roxanne said.

"Of course! All us warriors know of the three abyssal ones."

"Turns out she's Rafaela's sister!"

"What? no way."

Rafaela tightened her fists in her contempt for Roxanne. She somehow resisted the urge to rip her delicate head clean off, but was not prepared to let the girl make her do something she may regret.

She managed to calm herself down and looked over at her former comrade; "...Ophelia, did you end Priscilla?"

"Yeah...she's finished. I still can't get the pictures out of my mind. It was beautifully horrid. " Ophelia lied.

Roxanne noticed something strange in the way Ophelia said that, but the others seemed rather convinced by that performance.

"It's for the greater good..." Rafaela said sadly.

"After Priscilla, I wonder who's next..." Roxanne said.

"Perhaps your next."

Roxanne rolled her eyes over in her annoyance "Still going on with that? Just stick to something and commit to it...If you want to kill me then just do it already..."

Rafaela slithered her hand to the hilt of her blade, but Roxanne was just as quick to react; blocking her sword in time to save herself a swift decapitation. Rafaela seemed rather annoyed to see her surprise attack fail so miserably, but decided to play a little dirty and kick some sand into her opponent's eye. It proved successful for only a moment, but with Roxanne's defenses down, Rafaela took took the initiative and overpowered the lighter warrior, staggering her and throwing her to the ground.

"That was quite the desperate move Rafaela. I wonder which one of you is truly the better." Ophelia said.

Though Roxanne had been stricken rather violently, Rafaela couldn't help but notice that sickening smile across the girls face as she lay across the ground. It bothered her. It was a smile of raw satisfaction, and it had no place during such a time. Roxanne had crazy eyes, and they were directed aimly her way, and it was most uncomfortable.

Roxanne dusted herself off, still wielding her blade firmly in her main hand;

"You kicked dirt in my eyes? lame!" Roxanne hissed.

Rafaela massaged her knuckle as she stared at her opponent furiously; "You think you're so tough? I've seen and done things that would probably make you want to die a thousand times over. Don't fuck with me, because i'll end you."

"Really? I sure would have loved to see them! These things you say!" Roxanne scowled.

The two of them exchanged momentary looks of hatred for each other, but then something caught Rafaela's eye. Running down the side of Roxanne's face was a steady stream of blue blood, a sight she noticed once before. She didn't know exactly what this meant, but knew it probably wasn't good news for the girl.

But all three of them were disturbed by something out in the depths of the forest.

"Huh? Is someone out there?" Roxanne said.

"I wasn't followed." Ophelia said.

"Spies. The organization must be full of them." Skye said, her ocean blue eyes scanning through the darkness.

They raised their weapons the moment a dozen or so mysterious figures emerged from behind a mass of bushes. Most wore the standard black combat armor and wielding a claymore like their own. They were a small legion of regulators, or rather a unit of them seemingly protecting a familiar claymore with long loose hair that covered most of her torso. She smiled at the familiar, and not so familiar faces that she saw.

"I'm glad to see the rebellion is still intact. I've seen what happened to the city earlier...I had feared the worst..." Audrey said.

"So you're back..." Rafaela said.

The guards around Audrey seemed rather agitated, and aggressively reached for their weapons.

"At ease, we are all friends here."

-"Yes congresswoman Audrey." The regulators guards said in synchrony.

"Congresswoman?" Rafaela said.

Audrey emerged from the group with a flamboyant smile on her; "Yes, it turns out we've stricken a deal to get our kind to the human house of representatives. But i'll explain further when everyone is gathered. Is Miria with you guys?"

"Nope. She's someone out with Hysteria." Roxanne smirked.

"Out with Hysteria?" Audrey said, visibly stricken; "And the others?"

"Safely close by, but we are unprepared as Miria told us you were supposed to be here by sunrise, which you are not. " Skye said.

"Things have progressed faster than I had anticipated, and I fear this war just may involve us more than Miria or myself had originally thought."

* * *

For the next few minutes Teresa stood alone by the riverside trying to contemplate what Clare meant by her departing words.

'_Be back by sunrise."_

Where did Clare think she was off to?

Before Teresa could figure it out, something spooked her from deep out there, and all of a sudden she felt as if she were being watched by someone. She drew out her sword from it's holster, and scanned her dark surroundings. Her silver eyes did their best to maximize what little light there was, but even so, it was difficult to see far outwards.

"Are you preparing for another of your tests?" Teresa said out loud, her voice an echo around the shadowy trees, but was no response. However, she was not fooled by the silence.

She knew _he_ was out there.

"I wonder where you are..." Teresa said, dragging her claymore in the ground playfully as she moved through the trees.

Teresa focused on a particular wavelength she had discovered to work with the Marcus's mysterious aura, and when she discovered it, she aimed her sword outwards, then tossed her claymore into the darkness.

The dense blade collided with the stem of a tree, rocking the entire structure, showing the place with falling leaves. She had hoped to hit him with it, and end this game of cat and mouse he seemed to enjoy far more than she did.

"I must admit you've managed to hide yourself quite well, but i've found you." Teresa said, looking outwards confidently.

She heard the sound of her sword being pulled out, and she couldn't help but feel disappointed.

"I missed?" Teresa said, her tone edging on annoyance, "I never really miss..."

As she suspected, Marcus emerged out into the open with a wide grin on his rather handsome face. He had that irritating confident look to him, the one that made it seem all this was only a game to him. He stood before her, wielding her sword in his hand and waving it at her.

"You aimed properly, but you underestimated my reaction time. Also, I may have cheated a little... But now you're without your weapon, so what will you do I wonder?" Marcus said.

"If you attack me Marcus, I will kill you. Take this as your final warning. I'm tired of this playing around." Teresa said, her agitation growing.

He struck Teresa's claymore into the ground with a powerful thrust, and placed his hand on the hilt. He looked at her with a intrigued look.

"I do believe you, but I also wonder how good you are without this trusty weapon of yours...You guys are basically fish out of water without them..."

Teresa didn't say anything. Her eyes were locked on to her sword like a fuming flame instead. There weren't many times when she found herself losing her trusty claymore, and regretted ever throwing it away.

Though Teresa generally loathed close combat, it didn't mean she wasn't good at it, and the fact that her opponent thought that just because she was unarmed that she was weakened brought a smile to her lips. She was the mightiest warrior the organization has ever produced, and she knew it. The truth was that she was the strongest for a reason, and didn't necessarily need her silver eyes, nor her sword to win a battle.

He made a dash for her, and Teresa was quick to react. The way he moved was odd though, relying on clever counters using strange martial arts techniques Teresa had never seen before. She had always thought that powerful, rigid movements were the key to combat, but the way this man fought proved quite the opposite. He fought in such a manner as to give the illusion he has lost his own sense of balance, like a drunk at a bar fight, but all his strikes were frighteningly accurate. Though his fighting style was deceiving to the eyes, it could take her down if she were too careless.

His hands managed to slip past her defenses and lightly tap her across curious areas. No doubt he must have had a masterful understanding of blind spots or the such, but the way he would continuously poke her mid battle was getting to be quite irritating. These strikes seemed completely harmless though, but something else told Teresa otherwise.

She threw a punch aiming at his jaw, but ended up losing her balance when his slippery movements dodged it quite easily. Of course she expected this to happen, and was only curious to see how he would counter. As she suspected, he tried to go for her lower abdomen, but she slipped away equally as skillfully as he did before.

But Marcus had delivered a counter she had not seen coming. Instead of making space between them like she expected, Marcus instead stepped in to invade her personal space, catching her off balance momentarily.

_Damn..._

_he's really good..._

Though Teresa hated to admit it, she found herself momentarily outplayed for the first time in her life, and before she knew it, his magic movements caused her to fall flat against her back into the grass below, ending their short battle.

Marcus halted his moments and glared down at the hauntingly beautiful sight that was Teresa as she lay on the long untamed grass. Her eyes widened with awe, and except for the faint smile still upon her, she seemed genuinely astonished at the situation.

Neither of them seemed interested in their fight anymore, and instead seemed more interested in what the other was thinking.

"You let me win did you?" Marcus said.

He held out his hand as a kind gesture, but Teresa ignored it. She continued to lay down there, studying him closely with ravaged eyes instead.

"Now why would I do that?" She grinned.

She grew to shamelessly admire his incredible physique, and broad muscular build, something that sparked a raw desire within her. She had never really thought this way before, and perhaps this was her hidden need to compete with Clare and Raki, or perhaps something in Roxanne had sparked within her.

Regardless, Teresa enjoyed the way he seemed to admire her, his eagerness making her tingle with a strange sensation. There were no male Claymores during her generation, and certainly no men with dragonblood.

Teresa rose to her feet and gave him a playful look, " The way you move reminds me of a drunk. It's a little amusing, and also quite pathetic." Teresa said mockingly.

"Actually, I only drink water, and it just so happens that my fighting style makes it look like that."

"How most interesting...but I still think it's ridiculous.-"

All of a sudden the world began to spin a little, and Teresa felt a strange sensation engulf her body. She immediately felt weaker, and could feel her own yoki fading away into nothingness. She immediately felt weaker, and from the corner of her eye she had noticed her own strands of hair across her shoulder no longer a bright blonde, but jet black instead. Stricken, she moved over to the river and looked at her reflection in the water. She was beyond bewildered at what she saw. There wasn't a blonde strand of hair in sight anymore, and her eyes were different to, No longer silver, but a darker hue instead.

_Everything is different..._

_What's going on?_

"...What did you do to me?" A confused Teresa said, inspecting her hand as if it was the first time she ever laid eyes on it.

"I merely activated a few pressure points on your body, suppressing the entire yoki flow temporarily. It's an ancient technique known by very few in this world, and I happen to be one of them."

"I never imagined such a technique to exist..." A horrified Teresa said.

"I did the same to myself just to be fair, see?" Marcus said, pointing to various sections across his chest and arms.

Teresa didn't take much comfort in the fact that he was apparently 'human' just like her. She was still deeply annoyed at him, and It didn't matter how charming, or how mellow he was always about things. She never liked it when she wasn't in control of a situation. Her strength was reduced to merely that of a mere human, or what she thought was a mere human.

"Marcus...undo this now." Teresa growled.

"Once the technique is performed there is no way to undo it. The body will naturally return to it's basic state over time. Relax, it's not like we're in danger out here."

Irritated, Teresa walked over to her great sword that was stuck in the ground, and only just managed to pull the weapon out from the ground. She raised it upwards and noticed it was too heavy for her to hold with one hand like she had grown used to. Her muscles strained mercilessly under it's surprising weight, something she never had to worry before.

-"Why would you do something as stupid as this? what happens if an enemy were to spot me now?" Teresa said.

"Relax, I scouted the whole area before, it's clean."

Teresa held back the urge to laugh ;"You are so full of bullshit... "

"That weapon sure looks awfully heavy. Let me take it for you if you don'd mind."

"I don't think so. I still know myself around a sword. And I'm thinking I should kill you before you kill me."

"Do you really think i want you dead? I've never killed a woman before...and I don't plan to change that."

"Just shut up with that."

Teresa lowered her sword and leapt forward to punched him across the face hard with her right fist. The impact was powerful enough to make the larger man stumble for a moment. Being weakened, Teresa felt the full impact upon herself as well. She no longer possessed the strength of a claymore, her once powerful hands suddenly felt incredible fragile and weak. It wasn't a good feeling at all.

Marcus groaned as he stood straight, massaging the the side of his head in dismay, " Quite the punch..."

"No more funny business. Are you some sort of a spy working for the organization? "

"If I was a spy, then the last thing I would want is to be alone with you. I would have been long gone by now. I have plenty information on you guys." Marcus said.

"Then only two possibilities remain. You're either an assassin, or just a fool. Why do I think I already know the answer?

-Hey can I ask you something?" he asked.

"What is it?""

"Ever wondered what expensive human food tastes like?" Marcus grinned.

"Well... I can imagine...and I hope you're not implying what I think you are..." Teresa said.

"I am. It just so happens to be that I know a nearby town with the greatest chef in the land. I know it's late, and it's not entirely appropriate, but wouldn't it be more comfortable for the two of us to discuss this over a fine meal than out in the middle of no where?"

"I cannot imagine any store being open this time of night..." Teresa said.

"They are all open the moment I approach their door. I'm quite well known around here actually..."

"And why is that? Are you some sort of royalty? should I bow before you?" Teresa said coldly.

"I protect many towns from all this senseless destruction of the war...As a result, me and my guests eat anywhere with no charge, always."

Teresa couldn't believe what she was hearing."Seriously? you want to ask a claymore out on a date?"

"Sure why not? You and I represent the strongest of different sides, so think of this as a chance for a little diplomacy. We're civilized people after all."

"That sounds nice and all, but i'm not hungry..." Teresa lied.

But her stomach's grumble revealed her lie, and Teresa was fast running out of excuses. She could not deny her curiosity about him and the technique he had used on her after all.

"I heard that you guys have a visitor at sunrise, so if we leave now, we'll be back before then."

"So tempting...how is a girl to refuse such an offer?" Teresa smiled.

* * *

I will be working on the next chapter, . I know there are more questions raised than answers, and i honestly can't tell you why the story went in this certain direction, but i'm curious to know what people think of this one.

thanks for reading.


	61. Chapter 61

I know I've been away for quite some time, but I just felt a little uninspired and needed a little time off this story. i've always planned on continuing it, and now that i've read up to the latest in the manga, i feel a new sense of inspiration. i've had a certain vision to this story, and i'm going to attempt to write it as best as I can, leaving it free for people to read and criticise as they please.

Enjoy.

* * *

Teresa knew that following a man she barely knew wasn't the smartest of ideas, and especially not if it was through a forest equally as mysterious as him. It was almost pitch black, and the only light that was visible were the fading rays of the full moon that just barely penetrated the forest canopy. Though her lack of proper vision was troublesome, what bothered her most was that her sense of yoki had completely disappeared. Darkness had engulfed her, and she didn't like it. She had never experienced something like this before, and felt more vulnerable than she ever had. There could have been a yoma hiding mere meters in front of her and she wouldn't have even known.

She initially blamed Marcus for this situation, but knew it was all her fault in the end. It was her that allowed the self proclaimed dragon lord to get close to her in the first place, strip away her powers and lead her away from her allies. He appeared rather genuine, but she had long since learned that appearances can be very deceiving. She was thinking of turning back, but had already travelled too far to properly remember her way back.

"Dragon lord, i'm starting to think there is no town." Teresa said.

"There's a town alright, and we're almost there. Any questions you have will be answered once we arrive, which will be soon, I promise." Marcus said.

"You said the same thing two hours ago..."

Marcus laughed. "Sorry, I keep forgetting exactly where it is. I apologise for my clumsiness."

She crossed her arms in her irritation. "You also said you visit there often..."

"I do visit there from time to time."

"Then how is it possible that you're lost? Is there something wrong with you?"

-"Navigation was never really my thing. And these trees all look the same."

She scoffed. " Honestly...Why am I following you again?"

Just ahead, Teresa was relieved to see faint lights emerging out from the darkness, revealing themselves to be a array of lanterns that were against a giant wall. It was quite large, and she suspected this must have been some sort of natural barrier for the town it encased.

Teresa stopped in her tracks, pronging Marcus to do the same and look at her in the eye.

"I am not satisfied anymore. I do not like this place, I'm going back." Teresa said.

"Do you even remember the way back?" Marcus said.

"As a matter of fact I do." She said, drawing out her Claymore.

-"You're not going to attempt to kill me are you?"

"No. But if you follow me I may feel inclined to do so." Teresa said.

She flicked her hair as she turned around, walking away in the other direction, back towards the darkness again which she loathed.

"But you've already come all this way? It doesn't even make sense to go back now..."

She stopped again and stared him down with a weary look. "You do realise that I know that you're leading me into an ambush, right?"

"No...i'm not. I merely want dinner and some good old fashioned talk with a beautiful, but slightly frightening woman." Marcus said.

Teresa didn't seem convinced, and was a little weary when he approached her with a warm smile across his rather handsome face.

Teresa sighed sadly. "Do you swear that you're genuine?"

"What do you mean?"

"That you are not trying to deceive me. Can you give me your word on that?"

"I give you my word that no harm will come to you. I already told you I hate the organisation even more than you do. You and I have a lot to discuss..."

She sheathed her sword, taking his words shallowly. "Yes, there is that small thing that seems to be in common between us..."

"So will you join me for dinner?" He said as he grabbed her hand with his own.

Teresa blushed and slid it away almost as quickly.

"Don't do that again. What do you think this is?" Teresa grunted.

"A date."

They entered the town, and Teresa had immediately noticed the difference between it and the ones back on her island. Like the war city earlier, everyone living here seemed rather well off, even if it was located in the middle of nowhere. It was a direct contrast to the small poorer villages her island was notorious for, and was also much, much bigger. Rows and rows of streets and houses spanned for hundreds of meters outwards, making it seem like a city at initial glance.

"Why does this place appear deserted?" Teresa asked.

"It's curfew and nobody is allowed outside at this time. But it's quite odd that there are no guards out..."

They walked towards the centre of the village, towards the largest and most impressive of all the buildings. Most were built pretty standard by brick, but this one was rather large, oval shaped, and appeared to be something more similar to a tent than anything else. Large white sales were anchored down by strong ropes, creating a unique shape that almost made it look like some sort of a giant bird-nest or rather a rose. It screamed of luxury, and Teresa found herself genuinely impressed by the unique and complex architecture.

They arrived at the front door of the building which was almost double the size of what one would expect. Marcus rung a bell that was hanging next to it, and before long, the huge doors opened to reveal a rather chubby old man with a curly moustache welcome them. He wore a worn cooking apron and a long chef hat, which almost looked like a clumsy top hat. His clothes were stained with evidence of cooking, and the smell he oozed was that of a hard days work in the kitchen.

"Chef Gustav, I regret the the timing. May we come in?" Marcus said.

"Marcus! my friend! of course! Come in! Come in!" The old man said excitingly.

The chef's was left mesmerised as he glared at Teresa. She had the most beautiful black wavy hair that complemented her perfectly toned face, and a complexion that was almost divine. Her skin was vibrant and lifelike, and the colour of her cheeks lush like that of a young woman. She had a smile across her, but it was incredibly faint that he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination. She was more beautiful than anything he had ever seen, but the longer he looked at her, especially into her eyes, the darker that beauty appeared to be.

There was a large sword sheathed across her back, and for a moment he thought of the possibility that perhaps this wasn't an ordinary young woman.

"And who is this beautiful young lass with you?" He asked.

"Her name is..."

"Teresa is my name," Teresa said, interrupting him. "I've heard very highly of you, Gus. I hope I won't be dissapointed."

"And you don't want to disappoint her." Marcus said.

"Teresa, because you are so beautiful, I will make anything twice as spectacular as I usually do!" The chef said excitedly.

"That's quite a challenge, even for you." Marcus said.

"It's no problem! Really! My business is alive only because of you! Now please follow me this way." he said.

They followed the chef inside, and Teresa was pleased with what she saw. It was a royal victorian designed interior with red and gold contrasts in the pillars. There were long curtains across the walls and the ceiling was full of incredible artworks of abstract shapes and colours. There were dozens of tables with chairs scattered about, but they were lead up a bunch of stairs, until arriving at the top floor where they were greeted to level that was far more empty. In the centre was just a single table and two chairs and nothing else.

Both the table and the chairs were created from clever glass and metal craftsmanship that was not common to see. Silver cutlery was placed neatly across the table, all dear looking and well polished, just like everything else around them. It was more stylish than practical, but Teresa was never one to be impressed by such things, not usually anyway.

The old man peered again at the giant claymore sword strapped to her back and frowned.

"Miss Teresa, Girls and swords don't mix. Why are you carrying such a dreaded thing? You don't need such a thing when you have a strong man like Marcus to protect you! "

Teresa didn't appear amused. "I prefer to do the protecting myself."

"Let me take it off you."

"I insist I keep it..." Teresa said.

Marcus noticed the look of discomfort upon Teresa, so he stepped forward and addressed the chef;

"Actually, I think it suits her. It's not like she's from the organisation or anything." Marcus said.

If that was supposed to be a joke, she did not find it funny. Not many people were nice to her when they knew the truth about her. The chef seemed momentarily puzzled, looking at her with a growing suspicion. But he simply smiled and did not say anything further, backing away as though he knew he may have drawn some line.

"We would like the house special." Marcus said

"Yes...of course. Let me prepare your meal! Just wait right here..."

As the old man left the room, Marcus walked over to the table and pulled back one of the chairs.

"Please have a seat Teresa." He said, gesturing for her to sit down.

Teresa approached him in a lazy manner. She slammed her heavy claymore into the soft wooden floor, getting it stuck, then sat down looking at him suspiciously.

"He really doesn't like weapons in his restaurant. He's had some bad experiences in the past." Marcus said.

Teresa heard what he said, but was simply distracted her own reflection in the silver cutlery across her. She smiled at what she saw. Her beloved black hair, and more familiar looking eyes staring back at her. The image was a ghost of her former self, and it brought back precious, but painful memories of her past. A past where she once considered herself happy, but was ultimately betrayed by the very family and town that she had grown to trust.

She allowed herself to be used by a faceless organisation to kill monstrous creatures; experiments they had created in the first place. Yoma, awakened beings, even other Claymores were possible targets. If she got the order she would set out to do it without asking any questions. Her loyalty to the organisation was absolute, not because she liked what they did, in fact, she loathed it, but because she thought there was no other way out. She had kept her true strength a secret from the organisation, and did only the bare minimum of what was expected of her.

But now that she was alive, and sitting at this strange restaurant, she wasn't sure what to think. She had found all this situation quite humorous. Not only because her day job used to be the slaying of yoma, but because this was the first time she had officially been out on a date. There were a few times when men would show some interest in her, but most of them would leave in disgust when they saw the scar across her chest. Even she herself admitted that it was rather ugly, and had seen it as a tool to drive away all the unwanted attention.

"Your eyes are so sad...It's hard to watch." Marcus said from across the table, resting his hands across the surface.

Teresa looked at him abruptly. "Sad?"

"Like you've been through a lot. You must have seen a lot of gruesome things."

" A lot of the things i've done were only necessary." Teresa said.

"It's probably nothing i haven't already seen."

Teresa crossed her legs on the chair. "I've slaughtered dozens of men at a time."

"...Morality isn't so set in stone as most people believe. If you feel the choice you made was the correct one, then it probably was." Marcus said.

"You don't even know me. How can you say that?" Teresa said.

"Because I can tell that you are a good person at heart. Now is there anything in particular you wish to talk about?" Marcus said.

"That hand technique that has suppressed my powers...Teach it to me." she said, smiling at him charmingly.

His smile instantly died. "Oh...that. Sorry but I can't do that."

"Can't or won't?"

"...You must understand this is a technique that is so secret its existence isn't even supposed to be known. It was my kind's ultimate weapon against yours. It has other uses also, dangerous uses that should never be exploited by the wrong hands."

Teresa crossed her arms in disapproval, and looked away from him; "You have me hostage using that very technique. I say the wrong hands are yours."

"I didn't force you to follow me here. You came with me with your own free will."

"You know I cannot go back to the others like this... " Teresa said as she looked across her shoulder at her jet black hair. She couldn't help but touch it with the tips of her fingers again, still unable to believe what was right in front of her.

Marcus grinned: "What's wrong? Don't you trust some of your allies?'"

"What do you know about trust? You don't even have any friends!" Teresa snapped.

Marcus sighed. "Teresa, i've lived for hundreds of years. I've seen a lot of things. I know that you're one of the strongest creatures that's ever walked this world, and somebody like you ought to have a few enemies no doubt." Marcus said.

She tossed him a slick smile; "Are you my enemy?"

"I suppose you'll find out. But let's first have some dinner, i'm starving."

* * *

As Clare headed back to her camp, she couldn't help but feel a little more pessimistic than her usual self. A lot of her thoughts recently were on Raki, but as she drew closer to the others, they drifted more towards Teresa instead. She felt incredibly guilty for leaving her best friend behind with Marcus, but at the same time, she also suspected that Teresa certainly didn't seem to mind him.

Clare sighed sadly under her distress. She did not wish to part from Teresa, but she could understand what Roxanne meant by 'letting her go'. After all, it was her fault that Teresa had lost her head to Priscilla once before, and she certainly didn't wish to get in the way of the woman yet again.

She turned her thoughts over to Raki, remembering that he was once just a boy whom she had taken under her wing. In a way she found his obsessiveness over her kind of cute, seeing him as some sort of a pet that had soon grown on her. They had been through a lot together, and she did love him greatly, and she knew he loved her too.

They had been separated for seven years, and everyday she thought of him, wondering how much he would have changed. Her friends had often made fun of her about it, but she was always determined to meet him again, to fulfil the promise they made to each other.

And when she did finally see him again she was pleasantly surprised by what she saw. Just as she had imagined, he had grown to be a strong, and incredibly handsome man. In many ways was still the same as back then, but of course now he was bigger in every sense of the word. He had suddenly stopped being a boy, and according to her, had now become the most beautiful of creatures.

Clare had only been kissed once before, with Sid a long time ago, and it was bland and uninspiring. But with Raki, it was completely different. Her view of the world had changed when his lips had met hers, making her spine tingle in a way that was far more thrilling than any battle. She had grown fond of him showing affection towards her, and felt aroused whenever their skin touched. He was strong, yet he touched her incredibly gently, something that she had appreciated more than she would like.

She neared the camp, and just ahead she could finally see an end to the mass of trees, and a rise in elevation as she approached the giant hillside near the ocean.

Suddenly Clare felt the faint aura of one of her comrades from behind her. She look back in the direction, and noticed a rustle in the trees, and when she listened closer, she could hear the sound of faint footsteps up across the treetops also.

""I know you're out there Skye. Now come out."" Clare called out.

At first there was a state of total silence as if the girl had ignored her, but Clare wasn't going to fall for it. Skye was out there and she knew it. So she waited, and soon enough the younger girl jumped from the canopy to reveal herself. She appeared rather agitated and rather uncomfortable, struggling to maintaining eye contact without being ashamed.

"...Hello. Umm, Clare... You sure have terribly sharp senses... " Skye said, not meeting her in the eye.

"Are you stalking me?"

The girl's face lit up with protest; "I swear i'm not! You have a really faint aura, and at first I had no idea it was you... I noticed someone was approaching so I came to investigate!"

"Oh, right. I suppose it's a good thing that someone is keeping watch."

" I'm trying to help keep the peace just like Rafaela...but she and I aren't exactly on good terms... "

"Rafeala doesn't like most people, don't take it personally." Clare said.

"I only challenged her to a duel...I wonder if she was afraid of me..."

Skye's initial confidence quickly returned, and as she approached her closer, Clare felt a little more tense in her presence. The girl's deceptively young look was overshadowed by a far more mature composure, and her clothes appeared to be smudged in blood, and not necessarily purple blood either.

A satisfied smile drew across Skye's face as the she pulled out three knives across compartments in her clothes and started to juggle them in front of her effortlessly, and with skilful hands that were incredibly precise, flinging the razor sharp weapons through the air as though they merely toys.

"Very impressive. I see that knives are your specialty." Clare said.

Skye stopped her juggling, catching the falling knives with quick precise movements of a single hand.

"I'm good with all weapons, but there's just something about knives that intrigue me. It's just so up close and personal. There are literally thousands of ways you can kill someone with a knife."

"And you're telling me this why?" Clare asked.

Skye stiffened her gaze. "I'm here to challenge you to a duel. Will you accept?"

"You did not just ask me that. Get out of my way..." Clare sighed.

She turned to walk away, but was stopped when a knife was sent flying through the air, hitting a tree mere inches away from her head.

She looked back at the girl in annoyance.

"I am not interested in a duel. Perhaps later." Clare said.

Skye looked at her cheerfully. "No worries. Are you going to see Raki then?"

Clare cocked a brow at the girl; "What's with you? Why are you bringing up Raki?"

The girl put on a goofy smile. "It's just that...well...i've been meaning to tell you this..."

Skye looked at Clare in the eye, and struggled to hold back that gush of jealousy that sparked from deep within, but found it difficult to contain. "It's really silly, but it's just that i'm so envious of you. You get to lay with a cute boy, and I alone by myself...it's just not fair..." Skye said.

"Little girls like you don't need to worry about grown up affairs... "

Skye grew visibly irritated: "I'm not a child! I'm...fifteen years old!"

"It's none of your business anyway. " Clare said as she began to walk away.

"Do you like him?" Skye said boldly.

"Why are you asking me that?"

"It's a straightforward question. Do you like him?" Skye said.

Clare stopped in her tracks. She looked the girl dead in the eye. "I care for him. He is close to me. So yes."

Both of them had an eye for the same thing, but only one of them could have the prize, and skye wasn't used to not getting what she wanted. For most of her life she had held a great deal of authority and respect for her strength, yet in this place it seemed far more insignificant than she had even imagined, and it was driving her crazy.

Skye grinned: "Would you fight me for him?"

"I hope you're joking..." Clare said, horrified.

"Yes...I was joking...Obviously... " Skye said unconvincingly.

"Is there anything else you want?" Clare said.

"I didn't mean to offend you or anything. This is just how I am. But I do have one more thing I want to ask you...Are you and Teresa sisters?" Skye asked.

Clare flicked her face away as though feeling embarrassed or even ashamed about the subject. It seemed no matter where she went, Teresa always seemed to follow her in one way or another. She had been worrying for Teresa like crazy as of late, and this reminder from Skye certainly didn't help calm her nerves.

"No we are not..." Clare said.

-"I always kind of thought that you were. You two are so blissful when you are together. It's clear to everyone that you love each other very much." Skye said.

"Teresa and I have a complicated past..."

"Where is she at the moment? I thought you two left together." Skye asked.

Clare sighed. " Let's just say she's gathering some intelligence in the background..."

"All by herself?"

"Yes..."

"Forgive me for prying, but why didn't you stay with her? It's not safe out there! " Skye said.

"...I trust Teresa can handle herself... She does not need my, nor anyone else's help... And why is everything always about Teresa? Now Is there anything else you want? or do you want to talk about my personal life some more?!" Clare said, her tone edging on annoyance.

"I feel that i have gone too far with something... I will be going now. Bye Clare." Skye said as she began to back away from Clare.

Clare suddenly felt a little bad for speaking to her in such a derogatory manner, and attempted called out to her.

"...Wait Skye...I didn't mean..."

But the girl disappeared before her plea was heard as her words were dyed out by the winds.

Skye was one strange girl, but she may have been right in pointing out the absurdity of their situation. Normally the two of them would have gotten along quite well, but because of a single man, they had not said much to each other. Even with the prospect of an impending war which might be their certain doom, there seemed to be an instinctual rivalry between them that overided even this. It seemed to be a rather unnecessary distraction, Clare thought, but perhaps this wasn't necessarily a bad thing in the end. it was a sign that they were all more human than they thought.

She walked to the very top of the hill and headed towards the fireplace Miria had made. She looked around herself, but could not see Raki resting in his usual place. But the moment she was about to give up, she was greeted by a familiar voice.

-"Clare where have you been?"

She turned around and smiled happily the moment she saw Raki approach her. Never mind how he managed to escape her sharp senses, she was just happy to see him.

"I can't seem to rest, so I went for a walk to clear my head..." Clare said as she approached him.

"I was just a little concerned...and Teresa isn't with you? I thought you two left together." he asked.

"...She'll be back later..."

"Marcus isn't in his usual place either. I think he may have followed you two..." Raki said.

"He probably just may have..."

"I really don't trust that guy... I've got a bad feeling."

Raki was surprised when he noticed Clare's usual calm nature degrade into annoyance. "Let's not talk about Teresa at the moment...not everything is about her..."

"I never said it was..." he said with a startled expression.

She looked away from him as though she was embarrassed. "Forgive me, I didn't mean to snap like that...""

"Is everything alright Clare?"

Clare took a few steps away until her back was turned to him. Her face lowered as she spoke in a sad voice.

"I came here to tell you something." she said.

"Hmm?"

She looked at him oddly."I think it would be best if we had a professional relationship between us. At least for the time being. "

"Professional?" Raki asked.

"All this is not your fight...and it would be selfish of me you drag you in. I don't want you on the front lines, because I fear more than anything losing you."

"Fighting is what guys do...and last time I checked i'm not useless in a fight, not anymore at least. I won't just sit around and let you do everything yourself."

"Raki I don't know..." Clare sighed.

Raki smiled at her. "I'll always watch your back even if you don't want me to. You know that Clare. I'll never leave your side."

Clare felt her cheeks tingle a little at those words, which for some reason made her feel so incredibly flattered. Raki thought she was going to kiss him, but instead he was surprised to see Clare do something completely different. Instead she reached for her blade and drew it against him.

"Err what are you doing Clare?" Raki asked, perplexed.

Clare seemed particularly insistent. Her rather frail look was overshadowed by the pure power behind those powerful silver eyes. A mischievous smile came across her lips

- "If you wish to fight for me, then you must prove you have what it takes... You said you needed time to get used to your new body, and I suppose by now it shouldn't be a problem."

Raki threw her a sceptical look, "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Won't we disturb the others? It's not like we can just let loose here."

Clare shook her head and looked over to her side. " No. not here. Follow me."

She lead him further down the hillside, into a field absent of trees tamed with field of long bushy grass. The ocean was in view, and it reflected the moon's light enough to illuminate the place enough for them to see each other and their surroundings. They were the only ones around, and that was exactly how Clare wanted it.

"Well then, this seems like a good place. " Clare said serenely as she ran her hands through the field of grass.

"I'm not sure what you expect..."

"You do not wish to spar with me?" Clare said.

"...Well...My instinct is to protect my girlfriend and not attack her."

"Nice try. But I see what you're trying to do, and it's not going to work." Clare smiled at him from behind her blade:

She waited for his response eagerly, and just like she had hoped, the man raised his weapon and shot her that familiar look that she found irresistible.

"I'd be lying if I were to say I wasn't curious about a fight between us at some point. If that's what I need to do to prove myself to you...then so be it."

"Don't take me lightly." Clare said.

"Bring it on, Clare."

* * *

The chef had returned holding a large tray of hot food that engulfed the whole place with its warmth. Even Teresa had admitted to herself the scent was appealing. She had never thought of eating food as pleasurable, and most of her life she would only eat as much as she needed for the simple purpose to continue on living.

The chef placed the tray down on the table without saying a word. Something was different, and his discomfort was obvious. Teresa had even noticed him glance at her sword again more than just a few times.

"Everything alright old man? you seem a little different." Marcus asked.

He looked over at Marcus, and smiled with a snarled look; "Everything is perfectly fine, i'm just a little excited, that's all."

Teresa felt a little creeped out by the way the chef said that.

"Okay...Well what delight do you have for us?" Marcus said as he reached over to the tray.

Teresa all of a sudden wasn't very hungry. She could no longer sense yoki around her, and could not say for sure if he was what she thought he was. But the moment the man's eyes glimmered a brilliant shade of yellow, her suspicions were validated. She looked over at her sword, and attempted to slowly reach for it, but her hand was grabbed rather swiftly by the yoma.

"I already told you, swords and girls don't mix, Claymore... " he hissed.

"Hey hands off the lady..." Marcus said.

"How uncourteous of me." The chef said, " I would appolagise, but you see...well...oh never mind."

The moment he finished saying that, his flesh began to crawl from under his skin, expanding until the creature underneath was revealed outwards. It was a hideously ugly yoma, like all of them, with large golden eyes that sent terror to ordinary people. Teresa quickly grabbed her sword, and both she and Marcus backed away from it. With its huge claws it ripped their table to shreds, looking at them hungrily.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Don't you like how I look? that's discrimination. I'm deeply offended." The yoma said.

"Old man? you killed the old man?" Marcus yelled, looking deeply disturbed.

"You know how we yoma work, dragon lord, I don't need to tell you." It hissed.

"This wasn't supposed to happen..."

The yoma set its sight upon Teresa, and smiled as it was pleased with what it saw. It grinned and drooled through its razor sharp teeth as it cornered them to the side of the room. It took a step towards them, and cruelty laughed in their faces.

"And you...Claymore... how unfortunate you find yourself in such a situation."

Teresa seemed rather shocked, and the yoma instantly took notice of this as it stared upon her face. But Teresa was not intimidated. She had fought countless of these creatures before and she knew how to handle them.

_A yoma? even here?_

_Has the organisation truly lost control of their own creations?_

_Or is there something else going on here..._

"What's wrong Claymore? Didn't see this coming? Are you frightened of me?" It roared.

Her strength felt exhausted; but she held on to her claymore as if it were no different to the past. Her anchor of a weapon seem to weigh a tonne, and her once perfect composure was faltering under her newfound humanly weaknesses. She knew it wasn't impossible for a human to slay a yoma, but it was just considered very difficult for one to do so.

"If you want me, come and get me." Teresa said.

The yoma's grin widened; "Feisty! I love ones like you! Listening to you moan in pain will be like music to my ears! Of course i'm not supposed to kill you. The bosses want you alive. "

Marcus looked over at Teresa in sorrow; "Teresa...I'm so sorry about this...I did not mean..."

Teresa ignored him, and refused to back down, even against a rather large yoma many times her size.

Teresa rolled her eyes over at him, "Say another word and I will prioritise your death over the yoma."

She then looked back at the yoma with an annoyed look: "And you...couldn't you have waited until after dinner?"

Without warning she ran forward and swung her massive blade against it's right section, but as she suspected the beast managed to avoid her predictable attack with ease. It's superhuman strength propelling its bigger body away from her successfully.

"Close, but you're only human. You are no match for me. " The yoma said.

Teresa charged forward again, and though she could not predict it as she normally could, she still suspected certain things from such a familiar foe. Just in the nik of time she evaded before its fingers extended to pierce her flesh, Her humanly body reacting as fast as it could with a still very inhuman sense for combat. She had managed to merely cut the yoma with a perfectly timed uppercut, but didn't have the strength or speed to finish it entirely. Her blade hadn't cut all that deep, but she had inflicted a rather bothersome slice across its entire front section.

Teresa grunted silently to herself, then retreated to hide behind the ruined table for cover. Despite some considerable effort from her part, her opponent still wasn't all that injured, and so far this wasn't going as well as she had planned. She was used to ending battles whenever she felt like it, but this time, she didn't have such a luxury.

Behind the yoma, Teresa noticed that Marcus held on to one of the metal chairs as he crept up behind the monster. Even though she was furious with him, for some reason she found it quite amusing what he was attempting to do.

"The difference in power is too great. It's hopeless for you." the yoma said, drooling as it stared hysterically at her.

"Really? well perhaps a chair will even out the odds." Teresa grinned.

"Huh?"

The yoma had noticed a little too late something behind it, and was hit solidly in the head with the metal chair by Marcus.

It was left stumbled, dazed and confused from the impact, and Teresa was quick to use this to her advantage. As Marcus fell back, she ran forward and with a single slice, removed the yoma's right arm, pronging the beast to roar in pain and retreat.

The yoma laughed in a sickening tone; "I should have suspected for you to at least try to protect each other. I will not let that happen again."

Teresa put on her faint smile; "You are mistaken, We are not together in any way."

"Hey, wasn't it you who called this a date?" Marcus said.

Teresa snapped; "Do not attempt to assist me in any way."

The yoma seemed amused at this disfunction between them, and for a moment it didn't know how to even respond. It simply stared at them with its bulging eyes, flickered hungrily between either one of them.

But before long the yoma charged at her again, but she was already a step or two ahead. She evaded the predictable attacks of her familiar opponent, evading the sea of tentacles it shot at her then race to remove it's remaining arm.

But she was forced to abandon her charge, and take cover behind one of the large flower pots as the yoma attempted to pierce her yet again with its tentacles that extended unexpectedly from its back. She moved at the right times, and with a little bit of luck, she charged and managed to get close enough to swing her blade and remove it's remaining left arm in a single attack. It was successful, and the other arm flew through the air in a bloodied mess. The yoma roared in pain again, and began to cower into a corner, its hellish eyes drenched of fear.

"-What? That's not possible! How?"

Teresa flicked the excess blood off her Claymore, and threw the yoma a deathly stare. Eyes black as coal.

"I've killed thousands of your kind. And you know what? I think it gets easier every time..." Teresa said.

"You think you've won? foolish Claymore...just wait till... " The yoma laughed.

Before it could finnish what it was saying, Marcus grabbed a meat cleaver from the fallen tray and threw it at a supersonic speed straight for its head. The yoma was killed instantly as the blade impaled through it's skull, The large body met with the ground with a loud thud.

"This was not what was supposed to happen. Please believe me." Marcus said.

She ran for him and attempted to cut him in two, but stopped at the last moment as she leant the sharp edge of her claymore across his neck.

"I should just kill you now, but I think i'll let you live so you can continue on with your miserable life. Too bad. I actually liked you."

"Teresa...wait."

"Don't follow me."

She removed her blade from him and moved over to a window nearby and peered outside. She saw figures approaching the building in the darkened streets. The sound of a broken window shattering echoed from the other side of the building, and it clear to her there were others out there.

She kicked out the window and escaped into the streets below, hiding in the shadows and side alleys. She looked back to the window behind herself to made sure Marcus wasn't following her, and thankfully he wasn't. He appeared to have stayed behind, and she didn't wish to stick around and wonder why that was exactly.

It was dead quiet outside, but the sound of claws scraping in the cobblestone pavement was as chilling as ever. She knew a pack of yoma were nearby, and it was vital she got out of this place as quickly as possible.

Teresa headed through the darkest alleyways, where she moved silently towards the end of town. She crouched down low, keeping a look out for any enemies around. She needed to get out of this place, so she sprinted as fast as her body could take her. The adrenalin she felt running though her veins was a thrill she had never really experienced before, never genuinely at least, and it felt incredibly thrilling. There weren't many times in her life when she was forced to retreat due to powers stronger than herself.

The end of the village was not far away, but as she jumped across a bunch of crates to leap for a rooftop, she was a little too ambitious, and on landing she sprained her ankle, sending a thunder of pain through her body. But she sucked up the pain and persevered. She really didn't want to fight a dozen yoma at the same time, it was something she would rather avoid if possible.

She slipped down into another alley way down below and ran the last few meters towards freedom.

But it was too late. A dozen yoma surrounded her like a pack of starving hyaenas quicker than she anticipated. Each one of them with their disturbingly yellow eyes peering right at her through the darkness of the streets.

She readied her trusty claymore, and prepared herself for the fight of her life. She noticed the closest one to her. It clung high up the side of a house, but with an impressive feat of acrobatics, Teresa dashed across the building's wall and slashed against the underside of the yoma's body, severing it in two clean pieces.

Others dashed for her, and she responded in kind. She lunged towards the nearest yoma in an attempt to kill it in a single, precise attack. She didn't have time to waste, and knew that if she was to win, she would need to kill them fast. However she wasn't fast enough, and the yoma had managed to avoid instant death. Two others tried to attack her at that moment, but she slammed her blade into ones chest and managed to kick the other clean in the face. She may not have been as strong as she was before, but her sense of combat was still very much the same. She pulled back her claymore from the first yoma and finished off the two she had staggered.

There were dozen of them, and soon Teresa found herself cornered as they drove her against a wall.

Teresa panted as she held on to her weapon, ready to strike down whichever yoma dared to attack her next. But all the yoma simply backed away, making room for a dozen others to make themselves seen.

They all transformed into men wearing expensive suits and ties. There were ten in total, and the one that appeared to be in charge wore a white suit instead with silver stripes whilst the rest wore all black. The grin on their faces seemed just as evil as she was used to, and Teresa found no comfort in this transformation. These were all men of the organisation, that much was all to obvious to her.

Other larger yoma brutes slipped out from the shadows, creating a wall between them as though defending the higher ranking officials.

"Subject Teresa. Warrior number eighty two of the seventy seventh generation... It's an honour to finally meet you in the flesh. " The yoma in the white suit said.

-"The greatest of honours." another said.

Teresa smiled chillingly at them. She was not afraid of their large numbers. "Let me guess...you yoma work for the organisation?...or could it be that you guys are in fact the leaders of the organisation?"

The yoma in the white suit laughed; "Perhaps we are, perhaps we're not. That is the nature of our organisation."

"By that response I'll take that as a yes. Well, what do you want with me?"

One of the yoma in the black suits stepped forward; "You are our greatest creation, or should we say, our greatest fluke. Once in a while we get big ones, and you my dear are the biggest of all. You are destined for incredible things, things that have been long overdue."

Teresa didn't appreciate being treated as an 'experiment' or some sort of asset, and also didn't appreciate being surrounded by so many unknowns. Escape was on her mind but so far it seemed completely impossible.

-"You were wise to hide your abilities from us before, but now we know everything. You can't fool us with ignorance anymore."

-" No doubt you are the strongest creature we've ever produced, this we know for sure of." another hissed.

"An anomaly amongst anomalies. A monster among monsters. Surpassing all the others before yourself."

With her infamous faint smile, Teresa replied to them. "How Ironic is it that you yoma control those who are designed to hunt down your own kind. That, in the end, will be your downfall."

The head yoma threw her an excited look; "Things have always been going in our favour. We cannot and will never be stopped, Claymore. But let me just say that you were truly magnificent in Rabona. I've never been so proud in my entire life. You my dear have made me so incredibly happy..."

"Rabona? You mean..."

"Yes," The head yoma grinned his ugly teeth; "we were there when you awakened and revealed your true glorious self! It was a sight to behold! A creature of such majesty and grace, and with a power that is not measurable! Spectacular!"

Another added: "You are greatest weapon this world has ever seen!"

-"The tides of this war will change so quickly with such a power."

To her dismay, Marcus suddenly appeared from seemingly nowhere, walking over towards the yoma casually. They reacted as though they knew each other, and at that moment a chill ran down Teresa's spine. Marcus appeared emotionless, and did not even look her in the eye, something she had expected of course, but was not prepared for the strange hurt she felt inside.

Marcus addressed the men; "...All ten of you in the flesh. Gentlemen, this is a rare sight...I think i've only seen three or four of you in my entire life." Marcus said, staring them down strongly.

The head yoma straightened his tie. "We have decided to see our greatest creation with our own eyes. We couldn't refuse such an amazing opportunity."

"We need to talk about what happened to the old man. One of your guys killed him and took over his body. That was not apart of the agreement." Marcus said.

"I am deeply regretful for that. I gave you my word didn't I?"

"You did..."

"Sometimes the excitement just gets the better of my men. It's not something I can control. Besides, Gus was merely an old geezer who was going to die soon anyway."

One of the men threw Marcus a dirty smile and handed over what seemed like golden coins in his hands; "It appears no woman can escape your charms, Not even subject Teresa was immune to them it seems. I guess you win the bet. Here's a hundred gold coins as promised."

Teresa scoffed loudly, her eyes now fuming as she leered over at Marcus. They had not only been tracking her, but insulting her further by gambling over her.

"...I completed my end of the bargain. Now you live up to yours." Marcus said as he pocketed the coins.

The yoma in the white suit formed a wide grin; "Yes of course. This region and all its inhabitants have another decade of peace, as promised. We are grateful for your service."

"Just a decade?" Marcus said.

"Is that not generous enough?"

"I bring you the strongest Claymore i've ever met, and this is my reward? This one's a real beauty. I think it would be considered fairly reasonable for you to double my reward. Make it two decades."

"fifteen. Take it or leave it." The head yoma grinned, exposing his nasty teeth.

"Seventeen- five or I bring her back with the others." Marcus said.

They grumbled to themselves, but the yoma in the white suit didn't appear to be too rattled. "Fine. Let's just make it eighteen then. "

Teresa just couldn't listen to these men talking about her like she was some soft of a commodity, a tool to be used and then disposed of later on. She stared at them in disgust, especially at Marcus with eyes of hatred.

"Marcus! You're Nothing but a pathetic puppet for them to control. This peace they offer you is an illusion! and you know it. I thought you were a man, but I was obviously wrong."

Marcus remained quiet, while the head yoma seemed rather amused. He straightened his fancy tie and approached Teresa with a look of pure evilness. His irises were blood red, a murderous grin set upon his lips.

"Marcus is a realist. He has come to realise that there are forces in this world that are not worth fighting. We will crush your little rebellion just like we've crushed all the other ones before."

* * *

Sorry for the cliffhanger, i plan to continue this in the next chapter then I will begin with the world of the dragonkin.I will be working on the next chapter and look to releasing them regularly. Thanks for reading, and if you can leave some feedback, please do so.


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